Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007 is an important piece of legislation. Essentially, it makes provision for an inquiry into the devastating outbreak of equine influenza that is currently having such a huge impact on every aspect of horse related activity, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland. We have been exposed to pictures and images of that devastation—deserted racetracks and reports of threats to the Spring Carnival—but the impact does not go just to the horseracing industry. Our $1 billion equestrian industry has also been affected. This industry has 70,000 horses registered nationally, including our Olympic team horses, a third of whom are now in quarantine. We cannot forget the thousands of recreational riders who are now unable to take part in their favourite leisure activities, including many children who look forward to the pony club at the weekend.

In terms of the economic impact, though, it is the racing industry that is bearing the greatest burden. This is a big industry in this nation. It provides a livelihood for many thousands of Australians. According to the Australian Racing Board, this industry was projected, before the equine influenza outbreak, to have a direct economic impact of $41 billion on the Australian economy over the next five years.

The industry contributes approximately $1.6 billion to federal and state coffers each year. It provides 77,000 full-time equivalent jobs; including over 1,200 jockeys, 1,000 veterinarians and 750 farriers. Over 50 per cent of those jobs are in the states worst affected by the influenza outbreak, New South Wales and Queensland: close to 25,000 jobs in New South Wales and almost 16,000 jobs in Queensland.

Horses provide a livelihood to many Australians and are an important part of the recreational activities of many more. So it is little wonder that the news of 25 August 2007 that a case of equine influenza had been confirmed at the Eastern Creek quarantine facility rang alarm bells among horse lovers, horse owners and everyone employed in the industry. It is a serious disease and in worst cases can result in the death of horses. In fact, the first reported death occurred only last week.

The outbreak initially resulted in a national lockdown of all horse movements and the lockdown continues in both New South Wales and Queensland. The Australian public and especially the horse fraternity need to know, in fact deserve to know, exactly how this disease entered the country and how it spread. We need to know how Australia’s quarantine barriers were breached. We need to know what changes, if any, need to be made to our quarantine arrangements to ensure that it does not happen again.

Labor believes that a truly comprehensive inquiry is needed to determine exactly how this disease came into the country and if any person or agency has failed in their duty under the existing laws. We also need clear recommendations for the future to ensure that our quarantine arrangements are world’s best practice in keeping Australia free of exotic diseases such as equine influenza. Labor support the general thrust of this piece of legislation but we believe it can be improved. At the end of the second reading, I will be moving amendments to the bill that will ensure that we get the truly comprehensive inquiry that is much needed. We will also be ensuring that when the commissioner completes his report it is tabled in this parliament.

If Labor’s amendments are successful, any interested Australian will be able to read the report and the parliament will be able to develop a response. I note that the minister has said that he supports an open process and a comprehensive inquiry. Through the amendments that we propose, Labor will be giving the minister an opportunity to show all horse owners and horse lovers that he really means it. So I invite the minister and those opposite to show that, in this case, they demonstrate real support for openness in government by supporting our amendments.

Unfortunately, the government’s past record gives us no confidence that it is really committed to a transparent and comprehensive inquiry. We need look no further than the inquiry set up by the Prime Minister for the wheat for weapons scandal. Right from the start, in that case, the government was determined to erect a firewall between itself and any fallout from the inquiry in relation to implications for government ministers. It cleverly constructed the terms of reference to effectively constrain Commissioner Cole from delving too deeply into the role of ministers in that scandal. When it came to apportioning the blame, the finger was pointed at certain AWB employees and a number of bureaucratic failings. It was not allowed to look at how the government ignored countless indications that there was a problem.

I am not suggesting for one moment that the agriculture minister or his colleagues are directly to blame for the entry of equine influenza into Australia. What I am saying is that the commission should not be constrained in any way from following the trail of evidence—wherever it leads. That is why I was more than a little disturbed to read the words ‘all or any of’ in clause 66AY(1)(a) of the bill. These are the words that in effect give guidance to how the terms of reference will be constructed. The words ‘all or any of’ appear above the three listed matters. We are backed up on this by the Parliamentary Library, which advises that the effect of these words would be to allow considerable flexibility in the drafting of the terms of reference. I might have done the Parliamentary Library some disservice in saying that, but we certainly have advice to the effect that the words would allow considerable flexibility in the construct of the terms of reference. I hope that the minister is able to answer on this point, but we simply go on the past performance of this government. You can be sure that it will use every possible piece of wriggle room available to squirm its way around potentially difficult situations, particularly if it is implicated. The amendments that we are proposing will tighten up the legislation and leave less wriggle room for a government that intends to avoid the finger of blame, should the evidence point in that direction.

The first matter for consideration in 66AY(1)(a) simply talks about the outbreak of equine influenza. We believe the terms of reference should contain outbreak and spread, because it should not be confined to simply what has happened at Eastern Creek and how the disease got there. We believe the spread of the disease should also apply to the second matter: quarantine requirements and practices relating to the outbreak.

We are told by the Parliamentary Library—and on this occasion I do report it—that nothing in the legislation would actually require the minister to table the report once he receives it. Given this government’s obsession with secrecy, with its terrible record on accountability in this place when it comes to covering up its mistakes, we have no confidence that the report will ever be released. How many times has the government refused to release something that it has commissioned an inquiry into? We want to make sure that in this case transparency is available. An amendment I will propose later will require the minister to table the commission’s report in this parliament within five days of it being handed to him. We do not want a cover-up. We do not want selective parts of the report released. We want the whole document on the table and the ability for the parliament to consider it. If those opposite really believe in transparent government and accountability for their actions, I would urge them to support the amendments that I will move at the appropriate time.

I also note in passing that this bill is being done as an amendment to the Quarantine Act and not as a separate piece of legislation simply establishing the commission of inquiry. The minister argues that the inquiry is being set up under the Quarantine Act because it will make it easier to provide the commission with better access to assistance from quarantine officers and to records held by AQIS. The minister says that by using this process the commissioner will be able to build on investigative work already being done by quarantine authorities and will not have to start from scratch. We have not been able, in the time constraints around which we have to debate this bill—after all, we only saw it yesterday, and we are expected to debate it today—

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a disgrace.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a disgrace. This outbreak occurred over four weeks ago. Whilst the parliament has not been sitting, there is no reason why there could not have been an exposure draft or a bill circulated, consultation with the industry about the terms of reference, and an explanation of why it needs to done in this particular form. I am not going to take issue with it. We have to accept the minister at his word. But had we had more time I think it would have been an interesting exercise to understand why it was being done as part of the Quarantine Act.

The inquiry being set up under this bill would potentially make important recommendations about the future of Australia’s quarantine arrangements. We are only debating this matter because there has been a serious breach of an existing quarantine arrangement that poses a serious threat to an industry that touches most people’s lives. The reality is that it is not the only circumstance of breach—it is only the latest of a number of significant quarantine problems that have occurred under this government’s watch. In the last few years we have had white spot disease in prawns in Darwin Harbour, black sigatoka in bananas in Tully, fire ants in Brisbane, citrus canker in Emerald and sugarcane smut in Queensland and New South Wales. Who can forget that Senator Bill Heffernan had his Christmas dinner spoilt after he found a carton of Brazilian beef dumped at the Wagga tip, at a time when Brazil was most certainly not free of foot-and-mouth disease. Whilst this is not an exhaustive list, it is a very demonstrative list. These are examples of breaches we know about. It is a list that has led to considerable disquiet in sections of industry, particularly in our great agricultural industries, about the effectiveness of our quarantine arrangements.

That disquiet last year led members of the New South Wales Farmers Association, at their annual general meeting, to vote unanimously for a comprehensive inquiry into Australia’s quarantine arrangements. This followed a review of Australia’s quarantine commission by the association, conducted by respected Sydney barrister Tom Brennan. Mr Brennan found that there are structural flaws in our quarantine arrangements. Unfortunately, the Howard government chose to ignore the advice of the New South Wales Farmers Association and the Brennan report. Labor did not ignore the call, though, because we share concerns about the management of our quarantine system under this government. We have committed to establishing a comprehensive inquiry into all aspects of quarantine should we be successful at the coming election.

Part of the amendment I will be proposing later seeks to go to the question of how our procedures stack up against international best practice and whether they have in fact been followed. That is not in the terms of reference. I think it is an important term of reference. We believe it would provide a very sensible base on which to build the inquiry that we would hope to implement should we be elected to government. If the terms of reference are not altered, if the minister chooses to write them down even further, we still believe there will be some useful work that Commissioner Callinan will undertake, but we hope that the opportunity is there to look comprehensively at this issue so that we get it right.

The reality is that it is now more than 11 years since the last effective review into our quarantine system was undertaken. Eleven years ago it was a Labor government that did it. Former minister Bob Collins commissioned Malcolm Nairn to do that major review. For Labor and its primary industries ministers, quarantine was a priority. It was not just the reforms that Bob Collins initiated. John Kerin initiated some and so did I, when I held the portfolio. But the government, as usual, dropped the ball in this vital area.

The government has made a habit of ignoring warnings about quarantine, including at least one that directly related to equine quarantine arrangements. On 24 September 2004, the Australian Racing Board wrote to the former agriculture minister, Mr Truss, warning about quarantine risks associated with inspection protocols for imported horses. The letter from the board said, in relation to equine influenza:

If equine influenza gained entry into Australia, it would close down racing and other events for several months—

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Murphy interjecting

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, it has happened; it is prophetic. The letter continued:

... with catastrophic economic consequences. A quarantine breakdown is the only way Australia will be exposed to this exotic disease.

How much better off would we have been had the government heeded those words? But they were not heeded. We now have confirmed cases of this influenza in many locations. Warnings were ignored, and Australian communities, particularly rural and regional communities, are paying a huge price. Communities where equine influenza has been confirmed include Aberdeen, Berry, Gloucester, Maitland, Moree, Muswellbrook, Parkes, Raymond Terrace and Scone in New South Wales, and Warwick, Minden, Rosewood, Brookfield, Tamborine and Goondiwindi in Queensland.

Those closures affect the people in those communities. They are suffering real financial hardship as a result of this failure on the government’s watch. While the people involved in racing and other horse related activities in New South Wales are the ones that bear the brunt of the impact, the impact goes a long way beyond that. Because of revenue sharing arrangements within the racing industry, and because racing is closed down in New South Wales and Queensland, it impacts upon the states that still undertake race meetings. Many horse events have been cancelled around the country, even in states not subject to complete lockdown.

But there is an impact on the revenues of organisations that run other important events. The Melbourne and Geelong shows, which will take place in the next fortnight, for the first time will be without horses. There will be no horses, no show jumping, no Clydesdale teams. I acknowledge that the government has provided some assistance for a number of those affected by the outbreak. We support that assistance package, but we are asking the government to look more closely at the needs of communities and individuals beyond those that they have already compensated and to work closely with the industry.

Labor has consulted with industry and has listened to their concerns. This is an interesting fact: my home state of Victoria has a huge racing industry. In Victoria each year, there is a $3.8 billion gaming turnover. Half of that revenue in Victoria comes from Victorians betting on interstate races. If those interstate races are not happening, the betting does not happen and the revenue is down. Yet there has been no compensation for Victoria or the other states affected by it. That is a huge component in the context of Victoria. I do not know what the proportions are in the other states but I would expect they would be very large. Racing Victoria believe it will cost them up to $25 million this year. With racing shut down in New South Wales and Queensland, half of the main revenue stream for Victoria has disappeared.

So the government does have a clear responsibility. I would like to know from the minister who he has consulted with beyond New South Wales and Queensland—the ones that have been closed down—what those consultations have involved and why consideration has not been given to compensation for the other affected states. We urge the minister to not only address that question when he responds but also to actively engage himself in those sorts of discussions, as we have.

As I said before, it is absolutely vital that the inquiry finds out exactly how our quarantine defences were breached and how the influenza was able to spread. Yesterday, I asked a number of questions of the Prime Minister and the agriculture minister that were based on information provided to Labor by a number of Australians who have been concerned about the way in which the government has handled this matter. I asked the Prime Minister whether the government had received any warnings about the adequacy of its quarantine regime in preventing this equine influenza spread. He said he would check.

I know the Prime Minister has been a bit preoccupied over the last week, and one can excuse him somewhat because of the sorts of problems his own colleagues have been inflicting upon him—talking behind his back, withdrawing support, telling him he should go, and he then ignoring them. I can understand that in the last week—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the honourable member should return to the bill.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am completely on the bill. This outbreak has been going on since last month. Why wouldn’t the Prime Minister, with this major impact on the racing industry, have made a point of bringing himself up to date so that he could have answered a simple question as to whether he was satisfied about the adequacy of the arrangements? It was not good enough for him simply to say he would look at it. He still has not come back and answered the point. A Prime Minister on top of his game, a Prime Minister committed fully to the future of this country, instead of quitting halfway through the next term, were he to be re-elected, in those circumstances would have been across this matter that affects so many people, yet he was not. We know that the government was warned; we know that from the letter that I quoted from before—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a witch-hunt.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

from the Australian Racing Board, Minister; they wrote to the government and warned about this in 2004. If you had been listening intently before, you would know that I gave the specific quote. They were prophetic words; they talked about the disastrous consequences of the closing down of the racing industry, and it has happened. It has happened because you ignored the warnings. That is what this inquiry has to get to the bottom of—how it is that such a significant warning was ignored and, more importantly, what procedures were in place that allowed the outbreak to occur.

Was there only one warning? That is what we would have liked the Prime Minister to have told us. I would have thought that now that that letter is in the public domain the Prime Minister would have said: ‘Yes, we did get a warning from there. That is why we have set up a royal commission.’ Did he have any other warnings? I do not know. But we are entitled to have him tell this House. We are entitled to an answer.

I also asked the agriculture minister—not just the Prime Minister—about reports that horse handlers at the Eastern Creek quarantine facility regularly go from that facility to a nearby tavern for dinner without removing their gear or showering. That is a circumstance in breach of one of the most fundamental quarantine requirements. The minister still has not answered that question. What has the government got to hide? We are entitled to ask in the parliament about this very vital area. Why can the minister not answer?

We know that the government moved to tighten quarantine arrangements and procedures at Eastern Creek 10 days ago, so obviously the procedures were deficient. But why can he not tell us the answer to a simple question? This was a full month after a batch of horses arrived from Japan. It was more than two weeks after equine influenza was reported in Japan and a fortnight after 17 August, the day that a number of horses from Eastern Creek fell ill and testing for equine influenza was done. Given all of those facts, I find it disturbing that the minister was unable or unwilling to answer. I see him in the chamber now and I hope that he is—

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ask again today; I want to talk about Reins of Fire!

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Hotham has the call.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the minister has gone troppo, Mr Speaker.

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr McGauran interjecting

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the minister has got a dose of this influenza himself. He seems to be having—

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the minister should be put down!

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister should be put down! I thank the member for Lowe. Labor has been informed that there were a number of anomalies regarding the quarantine arrangements for the importation of horses that I talked of yesterday. The facts of this case are that on 4 November 2005 three horses were brought from France to the Spotswood quarantine station in Melbourne. Two weeks later, they were released from quarantine and appeared in events in Sydney and Newcastle. The information provided to Labor was that the importation was outside the normal allowable period but that the minister had intervened to stretch the definition of what constitutes the low-risk period.

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr McGauran interjecting

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is our advice. In fact, as a result of the minister’s intervention, AQIS officers were so concerned about the risk posed by these horses that they put in place a number of extraordinary procedures, including sealing the vehicle the horses were transported in and inspecting the venues of the shows. Again, the minister did not answer my question but came into the House later in the day to provide an answer of sorts. In my view, the minister still has not answered the central charge that he intervened to extend the boundaries of the normal allowable period to allow those horses to be released from quarantine. Instead, he concentrated on a number of peripheral issues and sought to make a joke of it.

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I didn’t even know they were there!

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He is still carrying on in a stupid way now. I acknowledge that the horses involved were show horses, not racehorses, and that Reins of Fire is the name of a troupe of horses and not the name of an individual horse. But these minor details do not answer the central facts of the case. Those issues, which I have talked of before, go to the core of what we are asking the minister about, and we want a full explanation. He still has not answered the central issues in this case. He still owes a response to the parliament and, in fact, Labor have been made aware of a number of other concerns about this particular importation and we will be vigorously pursing these issues.

The new charge that I make today goes to the risk in relation to equine influenza from horses from different places that are co-mingled. Between 17 and 20 August this year, two horses from Ireland and one from the US were stabled close to a horse imported from Japan in breach of procedures actively developed by the Commonwealth and state quarantine experts. I ask the minister: can he confirm that these three horses subsequently presented with equine influenza symptoms? When did the minister first become aware of this high-risk practice and what actions did he take? This is a minister who has a lot of questions to answer. Instead of chortling from the sidelines, let him give a full explanation in this place, and let him be prepared to adopt the amendments that we are proposing that will strengthen the guidelines to get to the bottom of their—(Time expired)

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, if the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry keeps interjecting, I might put him out under standing order 94(a)! I apologise as, from the beginning of my speech, I will be breaching standing order 76, under which members are required to address the question before the chair—the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007. But I think, in the circumstances, as an ageing member who has decided to retire, we are often given some privileges. I dare say that I will not take too many privileges but, certainly, I will range across a few issues.

As a young boy growing up on the Clarence River, I never envisaged that I would be involved in politics. I certainly did not come from a family that was actively involved in politics; I did not mix in circles that were actively involved in politics. I certainly did not belong to a trade union organisation to become involved in politics, but I was a trade unionist. I had earned a scholarship through my school to do a university degree. I gave that away and went cane cutting. Of course, one of the obligations in those days was to have a ticket before signing on. I can tell you that the union were quite smart because they used to renew the ticket in November, so they got two in the first year.

It gave me some grounding, I suppose, in the area that I love most—agriculture. I did become involved in the sugar industry and the politics of the sugar industry. I spent probably nearly 20 years in sugar industry politics before being convinced to stand as a member of the state parliament. The then leader of The Nationals in New South Wales, who was Mr Leon Punch—a fiery, gingery character—was begging me to enter politics for some time. I had a young family and I did not feel disposed to getting involved because I knew that the lifestyle was fairly onerous. Nevertheless, he insisted. I remember saying to him once, ‘Leon, if I ever go to the state parliament, you and I will clash,’ and he said to me, ‘Well, let’s try it.’ Eventually I did decide that I would put my name forward to stand for The Nationals for the seat of Clarence, which is a state seat in New South Wales. I was never the favoured son of The Nationals. I dare say that is understandable; I have always called a spade a spade and I have always been outspoken. Even at my preselection, the hierarchy of the party did not really favour me. Nevertheless, I had done the groundwork and I won the preselection. I was told by people around the electorate when I was doorknocking that if they had selected the other candidate they probably would not have won the seat. I took that as a compliment.

I have stood on several occasions for both state and federal seats, and I have won seven elections. The Australian Labor Party have fought me tooth and nail on every occasion, I can assure you. Nevertheless, they have never prevailed. I have never been defeated in an election, and I have to thank the people of Clarence and of Page, the people of that North Coast area, who have put their faith in me. I am not the usual politician. I certainly do not go out there to gain favours. I am not one of those populists who go out and say all the popular things. I certainly take the attitude—and I like to think that people who deal with me are the same—that, if I am up-front with someone, they may not agree with me but at least they respect my position. I have never wavered from that. I think that is one of the reasons I have always been elected. They may not like me but they certainly know where I stand. No-one will ever die wondering where I stand on certain issues. I think that is a very important point.

Bills before the House today, particularly the greenhouse bill, I think are very relevant to a number of portfolios I held in New South Wales. I was probably the longest serving Minister for Water Resources—that is the irrigation area, not city water. I was also the minister for forests, the minister for lands and western lands. I was the Chief Secretary (NSW). I did all the groundwork for the casino in Sydney—not that I supported it, but the Premier wanted it. So I did all the groundwork there. I was Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. I had a number of portfolios in New South Wales, and they really do relate to some of the issues and the bills being debated today, particularly the greenhouse bill. Forestry and water resources—those types of areas—are intimately tied to that debate and the legislation we are talking about at the present time.

A number of things in politics disappoint me, but one in particular, and it is to do not just with this chamber but with the way politics is debated around the countryside. In many ways I believe that our democracy has been taken over by the fact that the minority is always heard too much these days. The minority goes out there and controls the media with some hysterical headline. There is never the research done to see whether in fact that headline is correct, and often it is not. Often it is an exaggeration. Because of this country’s demography, where most of the politicians are going to come from the capital cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, the debate is controlled through the media by these minority groups and the effects are on the country. I do not think we look closely enough at the effects of some of our actions on the country itself. Let me go to some of it.

I am very proud of what I did in the irrigation industry in New South Wales. I think that is still respected in that state. It was a feudal system when I took it over in 1988. Growers were restricted to 80 acres. They were not allowed to grow what they wanted to grow. They were restricted to about 20 acres of grapes. We would never have this great wine industry we have in Australia if that regulation had not been broken down—and it had to be done. Mind you, the people involved did not agree with it at the time, but if you went back down there today I am sure they would say, ‘We do not want to go back to that.’

In the debate today on the Murray-Darling, I do not believe the true facts are being discussed. This is a very dry continent. If you go back through the European history, and prehistory if you want to go back and have a look at some of the research in universities, it has always been a very dry continent. There is evidence of 20-year droughts, which we have not seen in European settlement. We have to take into consideration those historic facts. When we start to talk about allocation of resources, I think the country has to come first; the citizens have to be considered. To say that the environment in these areas comes first is ignoring the history. There is plenty of evidence that the Murray dried up and there is plenty of evidence that the Darling dried up in the past, and when you have a situation like we have today, where we are in the middle of a 10-year drought, then the communities and the industries on those river systems have particularly to be taken into consideration. I do not think that is being done. There are many exaggerations. In fact, I am losing faith in the CSIRO. Quite frankly, I see some exaggerations there. I do not know whether it is because of ambit claims for resources, but I think they have gone away from their scientific base and they are not giving good advice. The area of land management relates to the forestry area and is more to do with the state than it is to do with the federal government, although I chaired the Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage of this parliament which went into the management of catchments—and forestry has a lot to do with the management of catchments.

Again, we are forgetting and ignoring the management and the history of management of these resources in Australia. Again, it is because of the exaggeration that we are hearing from the environmental movement. If you listen to them, the last tree is falling tomorrow morning. The greatest scar on the environment, if you want to talk about it, is Sydney. We never hear too much about that. But when we look at the resources around the country, because of the legislation that has gone through parliaments, we are now setting up for a disaster. We are not managing the common areas of this country. In the past we had a large forest industry that protected special areas—and I did a lot of work with the late Peter Cook when he was the minister for resources in the Hawke government. We set up a plan to manage forestry, to look after the special areas of forestry but also to maintain working forests. That is where people, through their governments, get the money to maintain those areas. At the present time, we are locking all the industries out of these areas, including the grazing industry that used to maintain many of the leases, and saying to taxpayers, ‘Somehow you’re going to have to find the money to manage these areas and we aren’t.’ Who was it that was foremost in opposing the agreement that Nick Greiner and Bob Hawke signed about the management of forests that Peter Cook and I put together? It was the ACF chairman, now the member for Kingsford Smith.

We have out of control fires that destroy flora and fauna because hot fires do. The Aborigines had more sense. They had fires for different reasons. They used fire for hunting and for their food resources but, over tens of thousands of years, they changed the species of this country and these species all rely on a slow fire. They kept fires burning most of the time across the landscape. We have ignored that and are saying, ‘Lock all these areas up.’ Then we get a build-up of fuel and, with lightning strikes, or in some cases arson, we have huge fires. They will destroy species—plants, animals, birds. Once you get a crown fire—it goes across the top of the forest; forget the koalas because they go up a tree to escape from fire—you destroy all of that. We have lost the plot in the management of the crown resources of this country. I hope that our grandchildren will one day realise what a mess we have made of this. I believe there are going to be some horrific stories in the future with this build-up of fuel, including around Sydney. We have seen bad fires in the past around Sydney and we will see them again if we do not get control of this fuel.

In 20 minutes you cannot roam over a lot of areas; I have got a lot to say. As I said, I was never the favoured son of The Nationals. I recall that when Wal Murray retired there was a ballot for the leadership in New South Wales. Several members—nine members of the party—came along to me. I was not putting my name forward as leader, but they came and said, ‘We want you to be the leader of the party in New South Wales.’ I said to them: ‘I’ll do that but you’ve got to understand I’ll make no promises. That’s not my way. I might have to make decisions as a leader that some of you mightn’t like from time to time and I won’t owe anyone anything.’ The hierarchy of the party did not like that too much. They spent a lot of time, I can tell you, trying to work out how to beat me. They knew that if we went the usual route for electing a leader—the simple method of preferential voting with several candidates—I only had to pick up two votes and I was the leader. So what did they do? They spent nights calculating how to beat this and even got to the stage where they asked the leader to change the rules at the meeting to have exhaustive preferential voting. So I finished up with four nines. I got nine, nine, nine, nine. It was quite interesting that that was the extent they went to.

I was not supposed to be a minister. I had been a shadow minister and did a lot of work with the irrigation industry. I spent hours negotiating with them and I always negotiated on any changes that we made. I was not supposed to be a minister because Nick Greiner decided he did not want me. Wal Murray was the leader and he had the right to say who would be a minister. It was Mattie Singleton, the member for Coffs Harbour, that reminded my leader that if I had not voted for him in the first place he would not be the leader. Nick Greiner wanted Robert Webster instead of me. Of course, Robert Webster was a Liberal in sheep’s clothing. Later on when he left the parliament he joined the religion, and so that was proven to be correct.

Once we lost government—it was a bittersweet pill to lose—I was going to retire; I was going to go back to my business, as I had plenty to do there. Paul Keating was the Prime Minister down here, and everyone was desperate to get rid of him. The leader of the party at that time, Tim Fischer, strongly encouraged me to come down to Canberra with my experience. He stood up in front of 200 people in Lismore and said, ‘Send this guy to Canberra and he’ll be a minister.’ Of course, that has long been forgotten—not even a parliamentary secretary. I think that that is probably indicative of what politics is about.

Over the period I have had some great support. I have to mention my wife because she has done as much in politics as I have. ‘You got two for the price of one’, I often said. When I was a minister, she went around the electorate looking after the traps. I am sure she is very highly respected in the electorate, and I know that she probably gained as many votes as I gained myself, so I thank her very much. My daughter Marcelle is sitting up there with my wife; thank you very much for the support.

I have had marvellous staff. I started off with Noela Powell. She was my only staff at that time. Bernadette started with me and is now working with me again—she has changed names; she got married. Debbie Newton also worked with me. I had several ministerial staff, as you would know. They were all very good staff; I was very pleased with the staff I had.

Of course, I now have a number of staff because we all have a lot more staff these days. I have Liz Cockle, Bernadette is back with me, Tink O’Keefe, Kerry, who fills in, and Graeme Orams, who worked for me for some time. I then became the Deputy Speaker of this place. I have worked with you, Mr Speaker, and I have worked with your predecessor. We have had a great relationship and I thank you for that. It is an honour to be the Deputy Speaker of this House, although I have to say that I would have preferred to be a minister. Nevertheless, it is a great honour. I have tried to uphold the chair. I think that sometimes my colleagues believe that I have been a bit too tough, but I had a compliment one day when the opposition said to me, ‘Well, we think you are fair because you are just as tough on them.’

I have a great deal of respect for this House. The institution itself is an extraordinary one. There is nothing in the world like the democracy we have in Australia and we need to fight for it. This is the members’ House; the government might have the numbers to control it but it is the members’ House. The members have a right to speak. I believe that the most important standing order is the one that grants the right to speak in silence. I have tried to enforce that order. I see that the Opposition Whip is in the chamber. I am pleased to say that I was the chairman of the selection committee that decided how private members’ business would be dealt with. We adopted an attitude very early on in my time that this was a house of free speech and we would not argue over subjects that we wanted to discuss. They might be sensitive at times and they might be hard, but this was a house of free speech and people had a right to put forward their views.

I also want to thank the clerks. They are, beyond doubt, some of the best anywhere—Ian Harris and Bernard in particular. I have worked very closely with Peter Mason in the selection committee. I have had a lot to do with Robyn Webber because she is the Clerk of Committees. I thank those people for all the support they have given me. I also thank the staff of the parliament. They are always very courteous.

You make some very good friends here—mostly on the other side, I might say. There is a lovely story about Maggie Thatcher that could be told about that. I will mention the honourable member for Reid because he and I went into the state parliament on the same day. His father was the Deputy Premier at the time.

Most importantly, I will mention my clerk—the inimitable Kim McInnes, the Deputy Speakers Clerk.

Honourable Members:

Hear, hear!

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Life is never dull when you are around Kim. She does a great job and I think that most members she has worked with in the parliament would accept that. And of course there is Sharon Davidson, who started with me—she was my press secretary at the time. Kim would dearly love to stay on. She is a bit angry with me for retiring, but we also have to win an election. The member for Lowe might disagree with the fact that we should continue in government. I know that Kim enjoys the job and she will miss it if the vagaries of politics mean that we both have to leave.

I thank all the members for their friendship over the years; I have really enjoyed it. It is a special club and I thank you very much.

Honourable Members:

Hear, hear!

Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to extend my congratulations to the Deputy Speaker and member for Page for the public work that he has done over many years. I notice that the member for Hume, Alby Schultz, is also in the chamber today. I was in the state parliament when the member for Page was a minister in that government. In fact, it was my vote that allowed that government to continue, in a sense, in a hung parliament. I have always appreciated the wisdom that the member for Page has had, both in the state parliament and in this place. It is a great tragedy that the expertise, particularly in the natural resource area, that the member for Page obviously had at the state level as a minister did not transfer through to a key position in the current parliament. In my view, he was one of the few country ministers who was prepared to stand up on key issues of importance in New South Wales. I do have one derogatory comment to make about him: in 16 years in politics I have only been thrown out of the parliament once and it was the member for Page as Deputy Speaker who shut me down and put me out! Even though I was not happy with it on the particular occasion, I understand the rules and he was playing by them. In that sense, his actions were quite correct on that occasion. I wish him and his family well for the future. Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your indulgence in allowing me to make these remarks.

The Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007 is of extreme interest to me because the New England area is one of the areas that are very badly affected by equine influenza. The sportsground at the small community of Moonbi is in lockdown as we speak. There are 38 horses in quarantine. Most of those individual animals are away from their homes as they had travelled to an event there a few weeks ago. I thank the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, who is not here at the moment, and his senior staff as well, for their attention to some of the concerns that those people raised. They were very quick to recognise some of the problems not only in Moonbi but in other areas as well. As this issue gains momentum much more will need to be done by governments at both the state and the federal level. There are 38 horses in lockdown and there are other outbreaks of equine influenza across the electorate. We believe that the Moonbi infection came from horses that had previously been at Maitland, and I think there is a linkage back to Eastern Creek, where those Maitland horses came from.

A member of my staff, Graham Nuttall, and I have been out to Moonbi on a number of occasions to assist with a whole range of issues such as enabling mobile telephone services to be relayed, accommodation arrangements, feed provision for horses and stabling of horses et cetera. I would like to pay credit, if I could, to the people who have been out there helping the horses that are in lockdown and their owners. Some of those horses are very valuable and their owners quite obviously want to stay with them as much as they can and look after them. In particular, I thank a senior person in the Department of Primary Industries, Arnold Turner. Arnold has been in charge of proceedings out there. It has not always been easy for him and no doubt that will be also be the case over the next few weeks and months. Various emergency services have been assisting as well. Obviously, there are lockdown provisions and various criteria that have to be dealt with in terms of people entering and leaving the premises. The Rural Lands Protection Boards have done an outstanding job.

One thing this outbreak has highlighted is the run down of personnel in the Department of Primary Industries at a state level. There has been a constant rush to privatise some functions and get them out into private industry. I think we are now starting to see that we do need some form of bureaucracy, in a sense, if these sorts of outbreaks occur. There is also the issue of the number of staff involved with the Rural Lands Protection Boards. I know that is a state issue, but I think it is important in this matter that we look at the staffing levels of the Rural Lands Protection Boards. Currently, we have a wild dog problem about 100 kilometres from Moonbi, we have the Moonbi problem and we have a range of other problems relating to drought and the movement of stock et cetera. The rural lands protection people are doing an extraordinary amount of work and this shows that recent calls to reduce the number of people working for the Rural Lands Protection Boards should be revisited. As I said, there are other outbreaks in the New England and north-west area that have been well documented.

We should be learning from these problems. Equine influenza is going to cost a lot of money and it is going to harm a lot of people, but it is nowhere near as deadly or as costly on a national scale as an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would be. The response arrangements we have for equine influenza would not hold us in good stead if there were an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. I think there is an enormous amount that we have to learn. I understand the motivation for this response—and I am not being critical of the people at the time; I just praised the Department of Primary Industries people working on the ground at Moonbi, for instance. Essentially, this is a national disaster. We have never had this disease before. At one stage, they were advertising on the radio for caravans to be provided to accommodate people who were in lockdown with their horses. I do not think that is an adequate response from a state based department to an outbreak of a major disease that we have not seen before in Australia. People had to advertise for charity to accommodate people who had travelled to Moonbi and found their horses were infected, through no fault of their own, and then had to stay there with them. I am not denigrating the community who volunteered caravans et cetera to accommodate these people, but I do not think that is an appropriate response mode for a huge breakdown in biosecurity. I think that is something we have to address. We do not have a trigger mechanism and a plan for a major outbreak such as equine influenza or foot-and-mouth disease, and I think we really need to do some homework on the sorts of things that actually happen on the ground when these things start to occur.

There have been some who have been critical of the way in which the Department of Primary Industries reacted on the ground at the time of the outbreak. As I understand it, horses had come from Maitland, some had gone to Narrabri and some had gone to Moonbi. Moonbi was locked down, but people from Narrabri were allowed to proceed home. From that decision, where the Narrabri horse event was deemed to be less risky than the Moonbi one, the horses were allowed to proceed to other destinations and an outbreak of the disease resulted in other places where they travelled to. There was a degree of inconsistency as to the treatment and the seriousness of the outbreak when it first occurred.

The bill before the House is essentially about inquiring into the outbreak of this disease. Where did it come from? Were there breaches of biosecurity? If so, who, where and why? Those are the sorts of issues involved, and I support the government in pursuing that agenda. I also support the member for Holt’s comment this morning in his address, where he said that it should inquire not only into the outbreak and where the breach of biosecurity occurred but also into the spread. I say that not in terms of headhunting people as to whether the right decision was made at Narrabri but in terms of how we can learn from this and respond on the ground to the challenges if similar outbreaks occur in the future. There will be breaches—there is no doubt about that—but I do not think that our response mechanism has been adequate to date.

The inquiry has to be transparent; otherwise, it is a waste of time. We have all had problems with AQIS and biosecurity. It is no good having an inquiry that is about internal navel gazing and trying to protect people from within the system. It is no good having an inquiry where only the minister and members of the cabinet are privy to the information. As a nation, we have to learn from this. The handling of this has not been good. Maybe accidents do occur and these sorts of breaches of biosecurity come with them, but we have to learn as much as we can.

Back on 4 August, before the outbreak occurred, a constituent in my electorate wrote to the minister, Peter McGauran, alerting him that a motion had been proposed and carried at the July conference of the New South Wales Farmers Association. The resolution in the letter conveyed to the minister stated:

That the Association strongly oppose any relocation or privatisation of the Eastern Creek Quarantine Centre without thorough consultation and input of stakeholders needs, namely the horse industry.

The lady who wrote this letter, Judy Marheine—and I relayed this to the minister—is a constituent of mine. She is very involved in the horse industry and is affected quite dramatically by the outbreak of EI at the moment. But there have been a number of warning signs out there. I think the minister should go back through the correspondence and have a close look at some of the messages that were being sent, such as the one a few years back—I cannot remember the exact date—from the New South Wales Apiarists Association. The member for Hume is the chairman of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—and he is doing a good job—which is currently looking at the honey bee industry and its various problems. A few years back, the Apiarists Association asked the same minister for an inquiry into a biosecurity breakdown regarding the small hive beetle incursion in their industry. It was deemed to not be of sufficient importance to have an inquiry. The question they are quite legitimately raising now is this: if equine influenza and the effect that it will have on the industry—and I do not think many horses will actually die from that disease, though it will have massive economic and social implications—it is important enough for an inquiry, why was a similar breach of biosecurity in the honey bee industry virtually brushed over? Again, I think we have to tighten up on the provisions regarding biosecurity, irrespective of which industry it is and the perception of that industry’s importance.

The Glen Innes Examiner, a newspaper in my electorate, highlights that fact with the headline ‘Horse flu has lessons for us all’. It goes through some of the issues on the ground with the Department of Primary Industries and the decision making processes. I would urge people who are interested in this issue to have a very close look at that as well. Some of the issues that have also been raised relate to how we now deal with equine influenza. I have relayed some of these issues through to the minister’s office and I thank him for his attention to them. We are going to have an inquiry into how it happened, but people on the ground want decisions and an idea of where all of this is going in relation to not only compensation and those issues but also controlling the disease. Do we just stay in a lockdown situation, as some suggest? I do not know the answer to these questions.

A number of veterinary surgeons in my electorate and others in the equine industry are starting to urge that vaccinations be looked at as a possibility. I do not like to verbal the minister, but I think that early on he made some indication on one of the radio programs that vaccination would not be considered. A side inquiry or a departmental inquiry should really have a very close look at some of those issues. Some of the veterinary people have a very high level of knowledge. Dr John Peatfield, from my electorate, for instance, has an enormous amount of knowledge about the equine industry in not only New England but also the major racing centres. Some of these people are making suggestions regarding vaccination and I have not heard a good argument as to why we should not have a very close look at it. It does not mean that we have to do it, but we have to have a closer look than just a cursory brush-off of the issue. We have to have a logical reason not to do it. Other countries in the world are doing it and, if this disease is here, maybe we have to look at ways of controlling it in a domestic situation rather than just hoping it will all go away.

Another side issue that I wish to raise—and the member for Hume has again been involved with some of these issues—is that if this were an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, irrespective of the problems we have had at the state and Commonwealth levels in reacting to the problem, what would we do? What can we do to put better plans in place to prevent diseases from spreading? The member for Page raised this issue a moment ago; it was not directly in the terms that I am raising it, but it is the same issue. He was talking about management issues in national parks. We have something like 30 million wild pigs in this nation now. People talk about it all the time: ‘We have more pigs than people.’ We have a vast chain of national parks down the Great Dividing Range from Queensland, through New South Wales and into Victoria. We currently have a wild dog problem. But if this were an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, that spine of protected lands—unmanaged lands, in a sense—would provide the ideal channel for the eastern part of Australia to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease.

What can we do? I do not think we are going to reverse the process. We will have a chain of national parks—and people will argue the pluses and minuses of that—but what can we do to avoid the problem coming out of those areas? The only answer—assuming that we are not going to get some sort of control of the wild pig, which we have not done yet—is to stop those animals from coming out of those areas. To do that you have to have proper exclusion fencing. People will say—shock, horror!—that it will cost an enormous amount of money. It is costing the people who happen to be neighbours of those properties enormous amounts at the moment—and this is the point I think the member for Page was raising. In my electorate, for instance, people have moved out of the production of sheep because they cannot afford to stay there because of the wild dogs. There are wild brumbies in that country as well, so EI could spread through that area as well. I would urge that we attempt to learn from this in a number of ways. There are particular high-risk areas for the spreading of some diseases. In the case of the wild pig population, maybe we should have a much more serious look at exclusion fencing—managed exclusion fencing rather than just the provision of materials.

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to express my full support for the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007. I do so in the hope that the people affected by this dramatic impact on the horseracing industry, in Queensland and New South Wales in particular, will understand that the inquiry has been brought about because of the problems associated with people sometimes making emotive statements—in many instances justifiably so—about why equine influenza has spread as it has and, more importantly, the problems associated with what appear to be some shortfalls in the Eastern Creek quarantine facility. Having said that, I have to say that the Australian government, through the minister, is committed to getting to the bottom of how this outbreak of equine influenza has occurred in Australia. We have to ensure that there is a full and independent inquiry which will be empowered by this legislation, and it needs to be formally commenced as quickly as possible. As I understand it from discussions I have had in this place today with people in the harness industry, we now have 4,600 horses infected and the number is rising. So it is a very critical issue.

As all members are aware, the government intends to appoint the Hon. Ian Callinan AC as commissioner under these amendments. A jurist of the higher order with a good working knowledge of the horse industry, Mr Callinan is eminently qualified for this role and ideally placed to conduct a thorough inquiry into this outbreak. Through these amendments, Mr Callinan will be provided with all the necessary powers and protections of a royal commission. We will also have access to all of the relevant quarantine-specific powers that are already contained in the Quarantine Act 1902. The commissioner will have the power to hold public hearings, compel witnesses and documents, direct quarantine officers to assist his investigation, and direct his own independent investigators.

The effects of the outbreak of equine influenza have been felt across the horse related industries and, in New South Wales alone, thousands of people have been affected by the outbreak. The Australian government is providing much-needed assistance to those people and businesses that have been directly affected. That is in stark contrast, unfortunately, with the New South Wales and Queensland governments, which have obtained considerable revenue from the industry but have sat on their hands in terms of making a financial contribution to ease the burden that is being placed more and more each day on the shoulders of the people who rely on the industry for employment and, more importantly, those industries that support the equine industry and employ people across the country.

It is also essential that these amendments are made as quickly as possible so that Mr Callinan can officially commence his comprehensive independent inquiry. When I got up to speak about my support for this amendment, I made reference to the recriminations in the public arena about why equine influenza got out into the wider community. I listened very intently to the comments by the honourable member for New England, who just made the point that there is generally a very serious concern in the community about the need for the government to ensure that the Eastern Creek quarantine facility remains—in relation to not only the problems associated with the equine industry but, more importantly, the problems associated with biosecurity. He quite rightly pointed out that the inquiries I have chaired in relation to feral animals and honey bees have reinforced the reality that we need not only to keep the facility but also to enhance the procedures and equipment in it to ensure that we have the maximum amount of protection.

This outbreak of equine influenza has certainly had disastrous consequences, not only for the racing industry but also for small businesses that are reliant on the industry. The Australian economy relies heavily on the racing industry, and the financial impact will continue to be felt not only by the racing and breeding industry but also by transport companies, the hospitality industry, the fashion industry and event promoters. In rural and regional Australia, many farming communities who were already suffering from the devastating effects of Australia’s worst drought on record have now been dealt a double blow with the outbreak of the equine flu. In the electorate of Hume, as an example, horse-and-carriage owners, who are employed at events such as weddings, harness makers and riding schools are just a few of the smaller businesses that have been affected by this devastating outbreak. I might add that the numbers of people affected by the outbreak are increasing on a daily basis. It is for this reason that a thorough inquiry into the causes of the outbreak must take place as soon as possible.

A lot of information about the outbreak of the equine flu has not filtered down to the grassroots level, to local communities. It is important that we gather the thoughts and feelings of the people in the sport and leisure horse industry to ensure they have a collective voice in this crisis. That is already being done here today. As I mentioned, I had some people from the harness racing community in the city of Goulburn, in the Hume electorate, come in to see me today. That group consisted of trainers, owners and a vet and, after listening to them, I made a quick appointment for them to talk to Minister McGauran—who, incidentally, has been flat out listening to groups such as this one from the Hume electorate, and I commend him for that.

It is all right for those on the other side of the chamber to play politics with this issue and to make derogatory and inflammatory comments on what the government is doing to address this outbreak, but I take exception to the member for Hotham’s backhanded insult in terms of whether the government will be open and transparent with the outcome and the findings of the Callinan inquiry into the equine influenza problem. Of course the government is going to be open and transparent about it; there is no question about that. And it is going to be open and transparent because the outcome of this inquiry, and the report that will finally come from Commissioner Callinan, will be very important not only to the equine industry and the future wellbeing of this country’s export industry but also to our economy.

The inquiry is also very important because it is an absolutely significant inquiry into an issue that centres on biosecurity, and thus on all diseases that are likely to make incursions into this country. That is one of the reasons why I mentioned the honey bee industry inquiry, and it is one of the reasons why I think the member for New England mentioned the issue of feral pigs. We have massive problems in this country and, rather than play politics with them, we all have to work together to ensure that we fix the problems. We must do something more positive about addressing the potential threats within our own borders, in terms of the threats of those sorts of issues to our native flora and fauna, than playing political buck-passing at a state, territory and federal level. We need to think more nationally and more internationally in terms of the threats that are around and the problems they could cause.

Let us hope that this inquiry identifies the source of the equine influenza outbreak in this country. More importantly, let us hope that it also makes the appropriate recommendations to ensure that, if any weaknesses are found in the system—and I am not suggesting there are weaknesses—we plug those holes as quickly and as professionally as we can.

This inquiry will help ease the fears of many horse owners and breeders who are concerned that another outbreak is possible. Everyone who has been involved or affected has the right to know the causes and consequences of this outbreak so that the federal government can ensure it never ever occurs again. Whether another outbreak is to be prevented by vaccination or by other means remains undecided, but I know there are significant numbers of people within the industry—and that certainly includes those constituents I saw today—who are talking about the blinkered approach of, to take an example, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries in relation to the vaccination process.

All government departments and all levels of government have to understand that they have to listen to the people out there who are at the coalface of industries such as the equine industry in this country, and they have to ensure that they make a calculated, sensible judgement on the actions that they recommend the ministers of the Crown take. If they do not do that, then all of the concerns that have been raised and all of the issues that have been taken up and acted upon will amount to nothing. Equine influenza has already, as I have said previously, ravaged the livelihoods of many Australians. It may come again because of human error, especially in these days of international travel and the global horse economy, and we must do our utmost to ensure it does not occur again.

To return to the inquiry: the inquiry can utilise, as I understand it, through the amendments, the expertise of the assigned quarantine officers, with no possibility of conflicting directions. I refer to the minister’s second reading speech on the issue, where he said this:

The Director of Quarantine will make a decision in relation to this matter as soon as the needs of the commissioner are known. However, it is quite likely that officers who have already been working on internal investigations into the outbreak will be assigned to the commission of inquiry, to avoid delays and unnecessary duplication of work.

The bill also allows for independent people engaged by the Commonwealth to assist the inquiry to be vested with relevant powers under the Quarantine Act. For instance, the Director of Quarantine could determine that an independent investigator assisting the commissioner could exercise search powers usually reserved for quarantine officers under the Quarantine Act. This will further provide the complete independence of the commission of inquiry.

I could not agree with the minister more. It is easy to sit back and be critical of the process undertaken by a minister in a very difficult situation. It is true that I do not always agree with the actions of the minister or the time in which he acts on things, but I have to say in this House and put on the public record that there has been no person more concerned and worried about the future contribution of the equine industry than Minister McGauran. I was very pleased that, after thinking about the problem and making a phone call to the Prime Minister’s office, who then spoke to the minister and relayed my thoughts and those of my parliamentary colleagues on this side of the House on how we should expand the assistance package to assist those people who are affected in their employment by this equine influenza outbreak, the minister announced a significant package to assist people. You can be assured that I, as a member of this government, will be encouraging people to take advantage of that assistance.

I look forward to the outcome of the inquiry by former Justice Callinan. I know that, given that eminent Australian’s contribution to the justice system over the years, he will be a formidable commissioner in this process and that he will present a report to the government that will be unbiased, open and frank in its outcomes as a result of his investigation into the equine influenza problem. I thank the House for the opportunity to make a contribution today.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

While members of the government fight over the spoils of government this week, the horse industry in Australia remains in absolute crisis. Together the thoroughbred and racing industries constitute the nation’s third largest sector. In New South Wales alone, the thoroughbred industry’s contribution to the economy is valued at around $4.2 billion. In the same state, some 50,000 people are employed by the thoroughbred and racing industries. No area in Australia is hurting more than the Hunter Valley. The impact there has been devastating and therefore people will not be surprised to hear me speaking on this important bill, the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007, this afternoon.

The Hunter, particularly the Upper Hunter, boasts some of the world’s best known thoroughbred horse studs: Arrowfield, Baramul, Coolmore, Byerley, Darley, Emirates, Kio-Ora, Sweetenham, Woodlands, Vinery and many others. It is not just the studs being affected, though; it is also the small breeders, the tourism industry, the racing industry, the saleyards, horse sports, the farriers, the veterinarians, the horse dentists, the barrier attendants, the transport owners and drivers—they are particularly facing huge debts but are without income at the moment—trainers, caterers; and the list goes on and on. The town of Scone proudly boasts of being the horse capital of Australia. It is entitled to. It is home to the Australian Stock Horse Society and boasts horse studs which collectively produce billions of dollars worth of foals each year. It is also home to an equine research centre, a TAFE campus which specialises in equine studies, Olympic quality polo grounds and probably the best racetrack in regional New South Wales. Each year, the Scone Horse Festival brings thousands of people to the area. We give thanks that at least the flu outbreak occurred after the May festival. Imagine the immediate economic impact the cancellation of that special event would have had on the Upper Hunter shire. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire, Barry Rose, reminded me yesterday that there is not one business in Scone that is not affected by this horse flu crisis. Of course, a business does not have to be directly involved in the horse industry to be affected. When incomes are down, consumer spending goes down and every business in the area has been caught up in the crisis.

The crisis in the Hunter is not confined to the Upper Hunter. Race meetings everywhere have been put on hold. The racing industry is hurting very badly—just ask the Newcastle Jockey Club, which of course extends its operations to the Cessnock racecourse in my own home town, or high-profile trainers such as Paul Perry and Kris Lees or owners such as my mate Jeremy Sylvester. Breeders also exist in the lower parts of the valley, as do trainers, farriers, vets, transport operators, saleyards and all those classifications and occupations that I have already mentioned. The Maitland Mercury reminded us today that the horse sale of the Maitland Saleyards, which occurs on the second Thursday of each month, has been cancelled for the first time in 200 years. It has survived floods, droughts, the depression of the thirties and labour shortages during the Second World War. You name it and it has survived it, but it has not been able to survive this horse flu crisis.

On Sunday, August 26 I was travelling to watch my beloved Cessnock rugby league team play in the preliminary final at Newcastle’s No. 1 sportsground. Unfortunately they were defeated by Lakes United, but that is another story. On the way down I took a phone call from a Cessnock resident by the name of Sue Simmonds. Sue and her husband had travelled to Moonbi, just outside Tamworth—and I heard the member for New England make reference to the crisis there—to watch their granddaughter participate in a horse sport event. Sue’s family, along with many others, found themselves stuck in Moonbi because their horses had been quarantined. They were among the lucky ones: they had their own caravan and were able to accommodate themselves. But many other families faced hefty accommodation costs and the food costs which went with being stuck in that town. I mention this story to point out to members of this place how broad the impact of this horse flu crisis is. I know that many members who do not represent constituencies which are directly affected would not have a real and proper understanding of how broad the effect of this is. It goes all the way from the top studs of the horseracing industry right down to the family who has a member participating in horse sports of some sort or another.

What can I say about the racing industry? It is an industry which pumps around $70 million annually into the Commonwealth’s coffers via the GST. It is an industry which contributes more than $200 million to the New South Wales Treasury each year. I spoke to a high-profile New South Wales trainer this morning. He, like many others, is frustrated that horse vaccination and an easing of the horse movement restrictions have not occurred before now. I am very pleased that the Thoroughbred Breeders New South Wales Association and the New South Wales government appear close to an agreement on the easing of horse movement restrictions. The introduction of a so-called ‘purple zone’ will be good news for the Hunter. It should be accompanied by a Commonwealth government subsidised vaccination program.

Unfortunately, the Hunter faces the inevitability of total infection. On that basis the restriction on movement within the Hunter region seems to have served very little purpose. Businesses in the Hunter urgently need those restrictions lifted. I know it is a complicated matter and I know there are both pros and cons, but the current circumstance cannot go on any longer. The situation without the movement ban could surely not be any worse than it is with it. I know that there is an issue with vaccination, and again there are no simple answers here. I know that it has the potential to complicate the timing of Australia’s all clear on equine flu. So I will let the experts decide. But I do call upon decision makers to err on the side of vaccination. That is certainly what people in my electorate are telling me is needed, including vets in my electorate whom I have spoken with.

On 12 March this year the Prime Minister came into this place at question time and sought, on indulgence, to make a statement. That statement was about a couple of disasters, one of them being the then recent storms and floods in the Hunter region and on the Central Coast. It was an appropriate thing to do and I know the residents of the Hunter appreciated it very much. The day before, the Governor-General came to the Hunter, toured some of the affected areas and spoke to some of the various emergency services groups and volunteers. I accompanied him on that short tour. The Prime Minister also came to Maitland and did something similar. Again, that was something I appreciated and something that I know the residents of the Hunter appreciated. It was the right and appropriate thing to do.

It just astounds me that, in stark contrast, we have seen no such recognition in this place of the disaster we are talking about this afternoon. I know there is not the same visual impact. You cannot see horse flu. We do not have our eye on the cash flow books of the many businesses which are being affected or the family budget of those families who have been affected through involvement in horse sports or because someone in the family works within the industry. We do not get that visual impact. It is true that, thankfully, no-one has lost their life as a result of equine flu. That is not likely, of course. Lives were lost in the floods. So I am not comparing the two in that sense. But this is very big, and I am surprised that there has not been greater recognition in this place. We are only finally talking about it today because the government has moved forward with the legislation required to establish the inquiry. There has been no prime ministerial statement, as we saw on other occasions. The economic and social impact of this absolutely warrants that contribution from the Prime Minister, other senior government members and indeed members of this House generally—some of whom I suspect are affected by this outbreak and do not even realise it.

I was particularly surprised to see that on the speakers list for this bill there are only six speakers listed out of some 150 members of the House of Representatives. Even more extraordinarily, four of the speakers listed come from this side of the House and only two from the government side—and one was a valedictory from the member for Page. We will count him in there and give them the benefit of the doubt. I think that is extraordinary given the scope and the impact of the issue which is before us today. Where is the member for Paterson? I have outlined for the House the extent of the impact of this crisis on the Hunter region, including those areas represented by the member for Paterson at the moment and those areas which will be represented by the member for Paterson in addition after the next federal election, if he is still here, when the boundaries will have changed. I should point out that there is some doubt about whether he will still be here; that remains, of course, to be seen.

It is well recorded that in a sense this outbreak had its beginnings in Maitland. It would have been appropriate for the member for Paterson to be in here extending his sympathy to those affected, demonstrating that he understands the impact of the outbreak on the region and committing himself to getting in here and doing something about it. I am sure that, like me, he welcomes the royal commission. I hope that, like me, he fears that the terms of reference are not sufficiently broad. We need terms of reference that get to the bottom of where this all began and that ensure we put in place new processes so that this can never happen again.

The original $4 million offered by the government was an insult to industry and to the communities affected. The $110 million package which followed is much more welcome, but I suspect it will still not scratch the surface. I made the point earlier that $70 million per year goes into the Commonwealth’s coffers as a result of the GST, so they will get more than half of the money back in one financial year. This remains a very, very modest contribution from the Commonwealth government. I urge them to take another look at it, to continue to monitor the impact of the outbreak and to consider additional financial assistance where it is required. Giving back just half of what the industry is already giving to the government is not sufficient to cover the impact.

The member for Paterson should be in here acknowledging the impact on his constituents, recognising their need and talking about the terms of reference. We want to know whether Bob Baldwin thinks these terms of reference are sufficiently broad to cover every aspect of the source, and he should be in here fighting for more money for those of his constituents who have been affected. It is not too late. The opposition will be happy to facilitate an opportunity for the member for Paterson to speak. I will talk to the Opposition Whip. I am sure that we will be more than happy to facilitate an opportunity for the member for Paterson to participate in this debate on the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007, show that he has some compassion for his constituents and show that he is prepared to get up and fight for the people he represents in this place. Surely he also, like me, has some concerns about the extent to which the government has cut back funding in AQIS, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, the extent to which they have outsourced much of the work in that organisation and whether or not that has in some way, even if only in a small way, led to the procedures breaking down so badly that we find ourselves in these circumstances today. Again, I invite the member for Paterson to come in here and have his say. We will facilitate that process.

Finally, I want to acknowledge and thank the many organisations who are working so hard to minimise the impact of the crisis—organisations like Thoroughbred Breeders Australia, Racing NSW and the New South Wales government. I am sure the New South Wales government has not got everything right but I know Minister Ian Macdonald is working very hard and consulting very broadly and widely with those who are affected. I also acknowledge the individuals involved. They are numerous—too many to name. I have had contact with many of them, of course, in the Hunter Valley and I have had phone calls from Sydney based people, particularly those who are associated with Royal Randwick, who I know are going beyond the call of duty. That is sometimes out of a bit of self-interest; we understand that. But it is also in the interest of the industry, in this case the racing industry.

Amongst those individuals, I want to single out one very special group, and that is the veterinarians who have been affected by the crisis. It is a bit counterintuitive. People are saying to me, ‘Why is it that when we have an outbreak of horse flu the vets have less work than ever before?’ I do not have time to go into all the detail, but it is obvious that there are movement restrictions which make it very hard for veterinarians to do their normal work. You cannot, for example, go to one stud and then move on to another, for fear of human transportation of the virus. If you go to a stud, you have to stay on that stud or go through all the procedures involved, such as washing down, changing clothes et cetera, to ensure that infection is not an issue.

Some of the vet hospitals in the Upper Hunter have been able to dedicate a vet to a particular stud, which is very generous of them because it certainly does not deliver the most efficient returns to their businesses. They are doing a sterling job. Like medical doctors, they are going beyond the call of duty, not just looking at their own financial circumstances but doing what they can to ease the burden on the people of the Hunter. The issue is very large in the Hunter region, in particular the Upper Hunter, and I trust that the royal commission we are establishing today will get to the bottom of the source and its causes to ensure that this is not only the first but the last time we have to deal with this issue in this country.

I know that much latitude has been given during this debate to allow members to make their valedictory speeches, and I have just heard part of what the member for Page, Mr Ian Causley, had to say. The member for Page is one of the real characters of this place. There are too few of them these days, in my view. I have enjoyed a bit of banter with the Deputy Speaker over the course of the years, and he has thrown me out of this place a couple of times too—usually unjustifiably, of course! I know you would never do such a thing to me, Madam Deputy Speaker Corcoran, unless it was warranted. I would expect you to do so if it were warranted, but usually in the case of the Deputy Speaker it was not warranted. I served on the House primary industries committee with Ian Causley when we both came here as part of the class of ’96. I think the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship at the table was also a member of the class of ’96.

Teresa Gambaro (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I spent some social time with Ian as well as time on the committee and I always enjoyed his company. I did not always agree with what he had to say, but that is to be expected.

I extend my very best to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to all the others who are leaving this place. We have heard a couple of valedictory speeches over the course of the last couple of weeks. We thought this would be our last opportunity. Maybe there is a little bit of time left yet—we shall wait and see. I particularly acknowledge Kim Beazley, who has been a great servant of this place and of the Labor Party, and my friends Rod Sawford, Carmen Lawrence, Michael Hatton, Gavan O’Connor, Bob Sercombe and you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I also want to acknowledge Harry Quick, the member for Franklin. He has had a difficult time with the Labor Party recently, but he has made a significant contribution both to the Labor Party and to this place over many years. It would be remiss of me not to mention Harry, who, as I said, has had some issues with the party in recent times but is basically a good bloke. I remember a great story about Harry Quick, who once travelled to Gallipoli and had an emotional experience in remembering his father’s role in that campaign. To all those members, and to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, we wish you the very best for the future and we thank you for your contribution. (Time expired)

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I concur with the comments made by the member for Hunter with respect to the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007 problems of the equine flu and the failure of the government to respond and attend to the matter properly. I am from Victoria. The great concern that we have is that at the moment we are attempting to prevent the virus entering the state, which could potentially devastate the spring carnival, a carnival that I am very much a patron of, as is the member for Lowe and other members. Indeed, the Victorian community are great patrons of the racing carnival in Melbourne in October and November. I know the state government is doing everything it can to prevent the state from being affected. I think it is important, as the member for Hunter indicated, that the government attend to some of the concerns—and to this point I do not think there has been an adequate response.

Yesterday I heard the minister responsible, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, seeking to provide an answer to questions raised by the member for Hotham. I do not believe those answers will satisfy the House, the racing industry or those parties adversely affected by this awful outbreak. It is important that the government attend to the concerns in the industry and stop attending to its own internal conflict and obsessions about its leadership. I therefore concur with the member for Hunter and other members on this side who have raised concerns about the failure by the government to properly respond to this problem in the racing industry.

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I strongly support the contribution just made by my colleague and good friend the member for Gorton on the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007. I also strongly support the amendment moved by my other good friend and colleague the shadow minister for trade and regional development, the Hon. Simon Crean, the member for Hotham.

While the Howard government dithered during the initial outbreak of the equine influenza epidemic around Australia, Labor has consistently called for an independent inquiry into how the disease was introduced, whether quarantine procedures are adequate and whether there has been a breach of quarantine procedures and protocols. From this perspective, I am broadly supportive of the bill but particularly of Simon Crean’s amendment. It is ludicrous that it took so long and so much arm-twisting to compel the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to launch this independent inquiry into what is such an obvious breach of Australia’s biosecurity regime. In light of the scale of the breach involved on this occasion, one can only wonder what level of quarantine breakdown would be required before the Howard government initiated an inquiry of its own volition rather than being pushed into the one that we have now with Commissioner Callinan. Surely Australians have a right to expect that quarantine procedures are being administered effectively by their government rather than with the indolence, complacency and lethargy that it has demonstrated on this occasion.

Such was the level of lethargy in the minister’s response to this outbreak that many Australians would be entitled to ask whether he too was suffering some form of influenza. Australians have a right to expect that, in the event of a quarantine failure, the government will act decisively to find out why it happened and how it can prevent a repetition. Unfortunately, after 11 years in government it is clear that the complacency, indolence and lethargy that I mentioned have submerged the Howard government, putting biosecurity enforcement at great risk.

It is obvious that the minister needs all the help he can get when it comes to identifying flaws in Australia’s quarantine procedures or failures in their application. Rather than being forced into an independent inquiry, the minister should have initiated one immediately—but he chose not to. The consequences were painfully obvious to all Australians and particularly those whose livelihoods depend on the racing industry. We all had to endure the unedifying sight of the minister responding on the run and contradicting himself as he went. We know some members of the Howard government are masters of projection and we saw new heights reached on this occasion with this crisis. On 24 August 2007, the minister stated:

It is likely that the infection has originated from another horse in quarantine that has contracted the disease but has not shown any clinical signs of it.

Then, three days later, on 27 August, the blame shifted when the minister indicated that ‘the Maitland event may be the source of the outbreak’. In a sign of defiance, the minister proclaimed on the following day, 28 August:

... there has been no breach of the impenetrable quarantine barriers at Eastern Creek ...

I will come back to the folly of that statement later in this debate. Finally, on 31 August, another three days later, the minister saw the light and questioned his own quarantine regime, when he stated:

We want to identify what went wrong so it can never happen again and so we can repair the breach.

He said:

It’s going to be human error, there’s no question, but were the quarantine procedures adequate?

It is clear that the Howard government has felt for several years that quarantine procedures were adequate, despite several legitimate concerns raised to the contrary.

During the course of the Callinan commission, we will no doubt hear of the prophetic warnings about equine influenza which were raised in years gone by. One of these warnings came from a very unlikely source, a former Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Mark Vaile. In a press statement the then minister stated:

The horse ... facilities at Eastern Creek have served Australia well for over 20 years and Australia remains one of the few countries in the world, which have never had an outbreak of equine influenza.

Now here is the clincher:

An outbreak of equine influenza would cause massive disruption to Australian horse racing and would be expensive to contain.

Indeed. Another former Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Warren Truss, had this to say:

We have a thriving, five billion dollar horse industry that deserves to be protected by the most stringent quarantine controls.

If only both those ministers had taken their own advice.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you know we are an island continent. For this influenza strain to get into Australia there must have been a breach of what Minister Truss labelled ‘stringent quarantine controls’. As Minister Vaile foreshadowed, this outbreak of equine influenza has caused massive disruption to Australian horseracing and it will be difficult to contain, and the effects have been debilitating. In New South Wales alone, 1,300 horses on 146 properties have tested positive to equine influenza. So much for Australia’s so-called ‘stringent quarantine controls’.

In an excellent article by Fiona Carruthers titled ‘The human pain from horse flu’, published in the Australian Financial Review on 1 September 2007, the human toll of equine influenza was very accurately described. The horseracing industry is worth $8 billion a year to gross domestic product, and it is not hard to see why. Ms Carruthers accurately identifies the forgotten victims of equine influenza, be they children’s riding teachers, trainers, strappers, grooms, university students with part-time track jobs, promotional staff, barrier attendants, track workers, maintenance staff, hospitality workers and cleaners. And that is not to mention the truck drivers, veterinarians, horse chiropractors, hairdressers and lingerie and fashion shops that have lost enormous amounts of trade through this crisis.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you know and everyone in this House knows that the horseracing industry employs many Australians. It is a huge industry. No doubt the list of those impacted on by this equine influenza crisis outbreak could go on and on. The racing industry sustains 77,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The Sydney Turf Club and the Australian Jockey Club, of which I am a proud member, employ up to 1,000 casuals between them on big race days. As this crisis draws out, more and more families will wonder where they will find the additional money to pay the mortgage, feed the kids and pay the other bills. All this could seemingly have been prevented if someone—anyone—in the Howard government had taken heed of the warnings presented to them.

It will not be difficult for Commissioner Callinan to spot flaws in Australia’s quarantine system. The commissioner need only scratch the surface to find them. Many concerns have already been raised, as referred to by the member for Gorton in his contribution about lax quarantine procedures at the federal government’s Eastern Creek quarantine facility. The AUSVETPLAN disease strategy for the control and eradication of equine influenza highlights the importance of making horse handlers aware of the risks of transmission of the virus by mechanical means. AUSVETPLAN also states that personnel handling horses in quarantine stations must shower before leaving the station to minimise the risk of transmission. This is for very good reason, as the virus can be spread on clothing or equipment.

Despite this, there is a considerable body of opinion and evidence which shows that pathetic quarantine arrangements existed at Eastern Creek quarantine station. A stallion groom formerly employed by a leading United States stud has stated that he, as well as others, was allowed to come and go from Eastern Creek without changing clothes, washing or showering. The groom was also witness to people unloading horses from trucks at the quarantine station and leaving without washing themselves or their trucks. These are not isolated claims.

On Saturday, 8 September 2007, Mr Alan Frogley, a very respected veterinarian, told Radio 2SM that he went to look at a horse at Eastern Creek, expecting to go through rigorous biosecurity procedures. Like many of us, Mr Frogley must have been duped by the former minister’s claims that Eastern Creek has the most stringent quarantine controls. To the contrary, Mr Frogley advises that he ‘breezed in as if it were just another stable’.

So I ask today, on behalf of the industry: where are these so-called stringent quarantine controls? The minister should immediately answer my questions Nos 6310, 6311, 6312 and 6313, which I placed on yesterday’s Notice Paper. I am still awaiting an answer. Perhaps I should not be asking where the stringent controls are. Given the examples I have just mentioned, a more pertinent question would be: are there any quarantine controls at all?

We must remember that this has all taken place against a background of AUSVETPLAN warnings that equine influenza could potentially be introduced to Australia by imported horses if quarantine procedures were inadequate. The quarantine failures I have mentioned all took place against a backdrop of an equine influenza outbreak in Japan and horses arriving in Australia from Japan at around the same time.

Rather than stepped-up quarantine precautions at Eastern Creek quarantine facility as a result, we now know that people have been walking in and out of the facility without showering, scrubbing down trucks and changing their clothes. So I ask again on behalf of the racing industry: what is going on at Eastern Creek? It is no wonder that leading trainer John O’Shea from Randwick said:

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that there is the introduction of this virus into Eastern Creek and now the same virus is in the general population

…            …            …

... there is no doubting that it’s come from Eastern Creek.

John O’Shea is a much respected trainer at Randwick. It may not take a rocket scientist to work that out, but the minister still has his doubts. While the minister already has a lot to answer for, the scandal does not end there for the government. It is now common knowledge that concerns were raised about Australia’s quarantine system as far back as 2004. It would seem that quarantine standards have been slipping for some time under the Howard government.

Stewart McArthur (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr McArthur interjecting

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And I know that the member for Corangamite would understand this very well in his electorate. In 2004 and 2005 the former Australian Racing Board Chairman, Mr Andrew Ramsden, warned then Minister Truss that a ‘quarantine breakdown’ would be the only way equine influenza could enter Australia, potentially causing ‘catastrophic economic consequences’. At the time, the ARB’s concerns included the quarantine risks from the use of private vets to inspect imported horses at the expense of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service. The ARB cited an example in South Africa where private vets had played a prominent role in a quarantine breakdown, and there was an outbreak in 2003. The government dismissed those concerns and, in a perfunctory fashion that many stakeholders have become accustomed to, the government suggested all imported horses would be under the ‘direct control of an AQIS veterinarian’. Whether this has actually been the case is unknown.

Stewart McArthur (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Have you ever seen a racehorse in your life?

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly have. You were not listening. I am a proud member of the Australian Jockey Club. I know more about the racing industry than you do, member for Corangamite—with great respect. The minister must immediately answer whether any private vets paid for by importers inspected imported horses without an AQIS vet present. If the minister will not answer that, the terms of reference of this inquiry must be broad enough to allow Commissioner Callinan to do so. Indeed, this inquiry’s terms of reference are far too restricted, and that was very adequately pointed out by the member for Hotham and shadow minister for trade and regional development when he foreshadowed his amendment, and that is why I am supporting his amendment.

By God, if there is a change of government, which we are all aching for on this side of the House and across Australia—whenever the election is called; perhaps the Prime Minister might tell us that today—we in government will move that amendment to really get to the root causes of this terrible crisis of equine influenza. Like the tricky terms of reference that we had in relation to the wheat for weapons scandal, this inquiry is designed to shield the government from criticism. We all know that.

I note with great interest that the terms of reference within this bill do not include an investigation into the culpability of Howard government ministers. This is consistent with the pattern of this government—again, crafty terms of reference may allow senior ministers to escape scrutiny. They never want to know anything. Remember children overboard? Weapons of mass destruction? Wheat bribes to Saddam Hussein? They never knew anything. In the best of Christian charity we can forgive them and say they are not lying; but Australia will not forgive them for their incompetence. If they are not lying about any of these things and if they are not covering up then, okay, we will forgive them for that but we will not forgive them for their incompetence.

Surely we deserve some answers in relation to this crisis. What action has been undertaken in the last three years that the Australian Racing Board’s letter has been in existence? We are all entitled to know that. This inquiry should investigate any instances in which concerns have been expressed to the government ministers by the horseracing industry about the integrity of the quarantine system.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hunter and shadow minister for defence made a valuable and lasting contribution to this debate. He has a very important horseracing industry based in Broadmeadows in his electorate. He understands it clearly. This inquiry should investigate any instances in which concerns have been expressed to government ministers by the horseracing industry about the integrity of our quarantine system, because clearly it is in grave doubt today—and the member for Corangamite knows that too. More importantly, this inquiry should have the power to carefully scrutinise the adequacy of the responses provided to those expressions of concerns.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where is the member for Paterson?

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is a very good question, member for Hunter, because I notice that when you made your contribution you invited him to come into this chamber and make a statement. While we are fortunate that our geographic isolation provides a natural defence against exotic diseases, keeping threats away from our borders requires eternal vigilance on the part of the minister. That is why we are going to move Simon Crean’s amendment when we get into government. That is why it is so important to do it. We are entitled to have serious concerns about the Howard government’s lack of vigilance with respect to quarantine procedures. Scientists have claimed that at least three deadly contagious bird diseases have bypassed Australian quarantine controls. Other exotic diseases which have been reported in Australia on the Howard government’s watch include fire ants in 2001, small hive beetle in 2002, citrus canker in 2004 and sugarcane smut in 2006. What a record! Now we can add equine influenza in 2007.

Oh, here is my good friend the Prime Minister, right on queue, coming into the House.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have come in to hear you!

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know you have. I have been begging you to tell me when the election is going to be held and you have not answered my question. I will give you some friendly advice about when not to have the election. All right? We have been talking about equine influenza; I suggest on Sunday you go out to the Governor-General’s and have a quiet cup of tea—

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Go where?

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Out to see the Governor-General, and call an election for either 20 or 27 October, because the last thing you would want to do is sully the Melbourne Cup racing carnival. It opens on Saturday, 3 November, as the member for Higgins knows, and goes through to Saturday—

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Derby Day!

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Derby Day. The Melbourne Cup is on 6 November, Oaks Day is on 8 November and then you have the ‘family day’ on 10 November. You do not want to sully the Melbourne Cup carnival by having a politician get in the way of punters around Australia analysing the form guide or interrupting the commentary on television.

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Give us a tip.

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have not got a tip at this stage.

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You know nothing about horses!

John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know a lot more than you know about horses, and I am telling the Prime Minister not to have the election on 3 November or 10 November.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 2.00 pm, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 97. The debate may be resumed at a later hour and the member will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.