Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Calare for moving this motion. The veterinary profession contributes an enormous amount to animal health and production, public health, animal welfare, food safety and biosecurity. Indeed, as the motion says, there are seven schools of veterinary medicine established in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, WA and South Australia. Before the last redistribution I had the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland in Gatton located in my seat. That is a wonderful facility, and I will talk about it later.

I have spent a lot of time raising awareness of the devastation which has affected so many Queenslanders and those within the seat of Blair in particular. It is not just the people of Queensland who have suffered. I want to acknowledge the unsung heroes who acted on behalf of our native wildlife, livestock and, of course, family pets, particularly dogs and cats. I also want to thank Councillor Andrew Antonelli who is in charge and has responsibility in Ipswich City Council for the work he does; the local RSPCA; and the Ipswich pound for their great work and all the workers there. They really cared for the domestic animals of Ipswich during the time of the flood. I thank them for their skill and talent, the abilities they exercised and their concern not just for the people of Ipswich but for the animals of Ipswich.

The United Nations has declared 2011 World Veterinary Year to mark the work of vets around the world and here in Australia. This year recognises the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the world’s first veterinary school in Lyon in France in 1761. The slogan adopted by the UN for the year of celebration is ‘Vet for health. Vet for food. Vet for the planet’. This motto illustrates the important role that vets play in safeguarding human and animal health, working to enhance food security and protecting the environment. We thank those vets who work not just for the local profession but for local councils and also for the federal government for the work that they do, particularly in biosecurity.

The 2006 census estimated that 63 per cent of Australian households own registered pets, and there are about 6,000 registered vets. Those of us who have engaged in that wonderful political activity called doorknocking will probably testify to the prevalence of dogs and cats, particularly dogs, as we have knocked on doors and opened gates and heard barking. In my electorate, particularly in the country towns such as Kilcoy, Toogoolawah, Esk, Lowood and Fernvale, the prevalence of dogs is particularly noted. They are much loved and we thank them for the work they do in protecting livestock and households. The Sunday before last I did what is commonly my work, a mobile office—my 41st since the last election—this time at the Fernvale markets. You can see all manner of dogs being led through the markets at Fernvale. I think there were almost more dogs than people at the markets at Fernvale last Sunday week.

The veterinary industry is invested in keeping our domestic animals healthy and disease free. Fortunately, we have done that. But their work extends not just to domestic animals but across the paddocks, through bushland and into the outback. This industry is particularly important in a regional and rural seat like Blair. Beef farming is widespread and dairy still exists. At one stage there they used to have about 25 dairy farms from Lynvale to Somerset to Mount Stanley. That is not the case now. Only a handful of dairies are up in the Brisbane Valley, but still vets are extremely important. Most country towns will see at least one veterinary practice in those types of places. They are very important for animal production in regional and rural areas. It is not just domestic dogs and cats that are important in the veterinary industry; there are the cattle as well as those dogs involved in rounding up cattle.

Vets are highly educated and well-qualified individuals who also act as a conduit for public health information to the wider medical profession. I have had local doctors speak to me about the importance of discussing issues concerning human health with vets and how the presence of an animal will make a difference to the psychological if not psychiatric health of an individual.

Worldwide, tragically, one person dies every 10 minutes from rabies. It is the most fatal infectious disease in the world, according to the World Veterinary Association. Of the 55,000 people who die from rabies each year, most are children, which is even worse, while 99 per cent of cases are as a direct result of dog bites. Australia is fortunate to have such a professional and effective veterinary industry. Our close geographic neighbours are not so lucky, and anyone who travels through South-East Asia will recognise that.

I want to acknowledge and thank publicly some of the unsung and forgotten heroes of the recent flood crisis—those who toiled day and night to save our animals and wildlife. Domestic pets, wildlife and commercial livestock were all caught up in the disaster, sending animal welfare organisations and vets to the breaking point. At one point the Queensland RSPCA received over 100 calls a minute from pets and animal owners seeking advice and information. In my electorate of Blair we witnessed an Ipswich resident, Mr Ray Cole, wrestling a drowning joey. Like the image of Sam the koala during the Victorian bushfires, the whole world witnessed the stoic Australian spirit and our love for our native wildlife.

In Gatton in the Lockyer Valley, which was formerly part of the electorate of Blair, local vets spent days with little sleep, bandaging, treating and euthanasing affected pets, horses and wildlife from immediate area, referring many to the University of Queensland veterinary hospital for ongoing treatment. Small animal vet professor Bob Donnelly and his staff at the university’s vet clinic offered their services to the Lockyer Valley Regional Council after the electricity and water supply could not be guaranteed at the local pound. He was quoted as saying:

They came in one by one—dogs covered in mud, cats terrified from their ordeal and horses that had worn down their hooves swimming for up to 30 hours to stay afloat. The Lockyer Council’s animal management offices did an amazing job searching houses and buildings for animals that had survived the flood. In some cases they had to rescue animals from houses that had collapsed.

Vets around Ipswich and the Brisbane Valley performed similar heroic acts during the flood crisis in South-East Queensland. We have special people to care for animals, but at a time of crisis these vets, their nurses, technicians, families and friends rose to levels of achievement that even they never thought possible. There are some quite extreme examples of the extent to which veterinary professionals went to support their local communities.

In Queensland, the RSPCA staff and volunteers care for over 41,000 animals every year. Further afield, organisations like Vets Beyond Borders provide the people and animals of our nearby neighbours with invaluable support.

I want to acknowledge also the work done by the School of Veterinary Science and vets in the Lockyer Valley in what we call the western corridor. I wish to acknowledge the public education institutions that train our vets. On 6 August 2010 I represented the Hon. Julia Gillard, then Minister for Education, when I opened the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science at Gatton. The university received $47.2 million towards the building of that school. This was while Gatton was part of the electorate of Blair. As their federal member, I lobbied very hard to achieve this funding. The ears of certain ministers are probably still ringing from the amount of times I cajoled them into giving us this money. This provided a single site for agriculture, crop, animal and veterinary science, including collocating with the Centre for Advanced Animal Science and other existing animal production and research facilities. This impressive facility is important not just for the Lockyer Valley but for Toowoomba, Somerset, Ipswich, the Scenic Rim and Brisbane—indeed, the whole of the western corridor, as we call it in South-East Queensland.

Since the 1880s, when Dr William Tyson Kendall, a 29-year-old vet, migrated to Australia, vets have performed wonderful, heroic deeds. He really is the founding father of veterinary science in Australia and is recognised as such. Since then Australian vets have worked to improve animal and human health by working tirelessly to diagnose and treat health problems in domestic, production and wild animals; helping to increase food quality, quantity and safety; protecting the public by helping preventable diseases from occurring; promoting animal welfare; playing a crucial role in biomedical research; and helping to protect the environment and biodiversity. I proudly commend the motion to the House and I acknowledge the good work of vets all over Australia, but particularly in South-East Queensland during the flood crisis.

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