John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the package of three bills to establish a horse disease response levy. The outbreak of equine influenza was only four years ago, in August 2007, and horses on thousands of properties were reported to have been infected over that time. In response to the emergency, Commonwealth, state and territory governments worked with the horse industry and horse owners to eradicate the disease. On 30 June 2008 affected areas of the country were officially declared free of the virus as no new cases had been reported for six months, since 25 December 2007. During this outbreak the Commonwealth government provided through various assistance packages about $227 million of the $268 million committed to individuals and businesses whose primary source of income had been affected by the outbreak and the subsequent movement restrictions.

This is why I strongly support the package of three bills to establish the horse disease response levy. The combination of these three bills will ensure that, if there is a combined national emergency response, at the end of the day, the industry is able to fund that, subsequent to government dealing with it.

The first bill, the Horse Disease Response Levy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 amends the Australian Animal Health Council (Live-stock Industries) Funding Act 1996 to enable a horse disease response levy to be appropriated to the Australian Animal Health Council. The Commonwealth will ensure that assistance is given to the industry to help in progressing R&D activities and/or the promotion of maintenance of horse health.

The second bill, the Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011, imposes a levy on manufactured horse feed and worm treatment for horses to enable the horse industry to repay amounts paid by the Commonwealth on behalf of the horse industry in response to an emergency animal disease outbreak affecting horses. The introduction of this levy is an important mechanism for the horse industry to recoup costs if the need arises. It will only—and I stress, only—be used or acted upon if there is an emergency animal disease outbreak affecting horses. The third bill, the Horse Disease Response Levy Collection Bill 2011, will enable the collection and administration of a horse disease response levy on manufactured horse feed and worm treatments for horses. The Commonwealth will be able to impose penalties for unpaid levies and the remission of any penalty for late payments as well as enable the collection of information and documents as specified by the Commonwealth.

These bills have come to fruition under this government after a typical initially half-baked approach which led to a failed attempt to pass legislation in 2008. While their motives were correct, the government's delivery of policy outcomes was less than perfect. A bill inquiry was conducted in relation to the failed 2008 bill. Horse owners identified the cause of the EI outbreak as a result of a breakdown in quarantine arrangements and the importation of shuttle stallions. It was because of these findings that the industry argued that a levy should be imposed on those most likely to contribute to future disease outbreak and who would ultimately benefit from any resulting compensation. The committee recommended the passage of the bill. The committee has indicated support for compulsory registration for all horses in the establishment of a national register. The legislation was ultimately reintroduced and defeated in the Senate on 4 February 2009.

Since then, there has been extensive consultation with the industry, with a constant stream of stakeholders coming through both the minister's and my own offices. Finally, on 3 March 2011, the peak horse bodies—the Australian Horse Industry Council, Harness Racing Australia, the Australian Racing Board and Equestrian Australia—each signed up to the EADR, an emergency animal disease response agreement, to fund dealing with future horse outbreaks like horse flu on behalf of the horse industry. The agreement means that the Australian government will pay for all costs associated with disease outbreak but then the industry has 10 years to pay back its share of the costs.

The horse industry had previously disagreed on how to collect its funding share. Recreational horse owners, understandably, had concerns that a compulsory levy would disadvantage them, but now the industry has agreed to place a levy of about 50c on manufactured feed and wormers. While there is not universal support, it is widely accepted that this is the best and fairest available option to collect the levy across the horse industry.

As previously mentioned, with the recent outbreak of the Hendra virus in Queensland and the discovery of the deadly disease in a dog, there is a very real need for the Commonwealth to impose measures to assist in combating outbreak. Having said that, the Hendra virus has an awful outcome on humans and I would not want people to think that the animal industry is expected to fund those exotic diseases that have a serious human component, like Hendra. I do not want to confuse the issue there. But it does show how we have to act when a disease comes under our skies.

We on this side of the House are concerned about quarantine and biosecurity defences having been significantly downgraded. We need to be ready for an outbreak that will inevitably come. Labor's 2009 federal budget took another $35.8 million from the quarantine and biosecurity budgets, leading to the loss of 125 jobs and reduced inspections of arriving passengers and cargo. Fifty-eight million dollars was slashed from the Customs budget, leading to 4.7 million fewer air cargo consignments being inspected each year and 2,150 fewer vessels being boarded on arrival.

Science is taking a back seat as federal bureaucrats find reasons to ignore warnings due to funding shortfalls and there has not been sufficient support from Minister Ludwig or Minister Burke before him. I have serious concerns about biosecurity and quarantine measures in our country. Ignoring the myrtle rust and Asian bee incursions are two recent cases in point. New South Wales and Queensland tried, but neither got sufficient back-up from the Commonwealth government—that is, Minister Ludwig or Minister Burke—who pretended it was not really happening. Then there is yesterday's decision on New Zealand apples.

I strongly support the introduction and combination of these three bills. I think we have got to a point where, as much as is humanly possible, it is fair. It imposes a lesser burden on recreational animals and a far more serious burden on those who spend most on manufactured feeds and wormers, which, undoubtedly, the racehorse industry, the jumping industry and the professional horse industry do.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure to be speaking, finally, on the Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011 and related bills. I spoke on the previous bill in the previous parliament, in 2008. For all that time, the Australian horse industry has been left in a state of insecurity because we did not have arrangements in place to allow the industry and the government to adjust to any outbreak of disease that might occur. This comes after a decade of insecurity and indifference by the previous government to the risk of equine influenza. In my previous speech, I talked about that quite a bit: how the member for Wide Bay had basically adopted a 'she'll be right' attitude to the potential threat of equine influenza, despite being warned by people in the industry.

So this is unfinished business. It is a great pity that it did not come to the House before this. It is a great pity that the opposition rejected the bill in its first incarnation. I thought it was a profoundly fair bill, a bill that protected Australia and the horse industry and provided that industry with the same level of security that occurs in other livestock industries. We have potential levies in place for chicken meat, honeybees, cattle, dairy, chickens, sheep, lambs, goat and pigs. This was not a new concept in the previous bill. It was a perfectly reasonable arrangement.

I am pleased that the opposition has finally seen sense and we have finally been able to get levy arrangements on which there is a greater level of agreement. But I think we need to understand that we are never going to have universal approval for levy arrangements. There is always going to be someone out there who regards it as an impost on their business or on their individual liberty. But levies, taxes and prices on carbon are all arrangements that are necessary for civilisation, for stable government and for security. They are the great compromise we make between our individual liberty and our collective security. I do not mean to fire up the opposition, but after a decade of their indifference and ignoring all these problems it is nice for them to finally come to a conclusion and say yes. It must be a heart-warming thing for the opposition—such a novel experience! One hopes that saying yes might be catching. You might get some warm fuzzies! We can only hope that this might be part of a new era of civility in our public life and that the warring parties might give it a rest. We can only hope.

Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have got to stop smoking that stuff!

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I live in hope. I am a great believer in cooperation. But it is good that we have some agreement on this bill and some agreement about how the levies will be imposed. They are going to be imposed on manufactured horse feed and worming treatments for horses. It will be a levy on consumers; we cannot not get away from that. People will not like paying it in the event of a disease outbreak. Initially, of course, the levies are all set at zero, so there will not be an impost unless there is an outbreak of disease. It is worth noting that the previous outbreak of disease cost the government—and therefore cost the community—some $249 million because of the financial assistance that had to be made to individuals, organisations and businesses. And that is not counting the significant losses that were experienced by people outside the reasonably strict framework that had to occur because of the high costs and the failure to have a levy. One constituent of mine, who made ribbons for horseshows—the prizes for the winners at pony clubs and many horseshows in my electorate—received no compensation and there was a great impact on her business. I remember her plight very well.

It is worth acknowledging the great contribution horses do make to our rural life and the culture of rural life—and I note that we have the member for Eden Monaro in the chamber. Although I do not have any spectacular jumps in my electorate—we have got plains for the most part—there are many pony clubs. My sister participated in one. There is a very famous rodeo in Marrabel in my electorate. Marrabel is a great little town. I got a six per cent swing there last election, and got 17 votes rather than 11. So I thank the one family who might have changed sides for their support. It is a great town and I have very fond memories of going to Marrabel in my youth and going to the rodeo there. It is interwoven with rural life and interwoven to the culture of it. When equine influenza hit, everything stopped for a while. All the horse components of country shows were cancelled, and you noticed that. It made a big difference in my hometown of Kapunda.

It is worth acknowledging that these great insecurities are out there. We know that we cannot put up the shutters and have a 'fortress Australia'. We live in an interconnected world, and that means that we must resist the siren song of protectionism and this idea of a 'fortress Australia'. That will not provide security; it will just cost us jobs, trade and opportunity. We have to acknowledge that we need to seek security in different ways—firstly, through prevention and, secondly, when we do have issues we need to respond to them quickly.

I commend this bill to the House. It is certainly nice to see the opposition finally saying yes. I look forward to these arrangements coming into place and making my constituents more secure in the event of any disease outbreak.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011 and related bills. I of course have a great interest in it, particularly because the trigger for this bill relates to a quarantine outbreak of equine influenza in Australia. I think that is the reason we have this bill before us today. As a consequence of what happened with the equine influenza outbreak, the industry had to look at how it will respond should a situation like that occur in the future and what the costs will be and who will bear those costs.

We would not be discussing this bill, I believe, were it not for a breakdown of quarantine in Australia. That breakdown in quarantine was a result of shuttle stallions coming, I understand, from Japan and carrying the equine influenza being transported to Australia to a quarantine facility at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. It was from that facility, a quarantine facility, that the disease escaped into the domestic horse industry across Australia—and it spread rapidly.

In my electorate of Maranoa there is a big horse event at Morgan Park in Warwick. Race meetings in the outback were underway. The circuit had started. As result of it being identified, word got out into the horse industry, and not just around Sydney; it was identified in Warwick at Morgan Park, because horses had come from the Hunter. It demonstrates how quickly a disease—an exotic disease in this case, influenza—can spread when it gets out because of a breakdown of quarantine.

The whole of the landmass of Queensland was in quarantine lockdown. I mentioned Morgan Park at Warwick, for instance. There were people travelling with their racehorses from Mount Isa and Longreach to the Birdsville races; they were overnighting with their horses, I recall, at Windorah. They could not move; they were locked down there, 1,500 kilometres away from where the outbreak had been identified and had spread to, in this case Morgan Park in Warwick in my electorate. The races had to be cancelled—the Birdsville races, for instance.

Those races in the outback raise significant funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Sure, the outback race circuit out there is a great event, but let us look at all the other benefits of it, not only for local tourism and commerce but the funds they raise for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Horses were stranded at Bedourie, Windorah and many other parts of Queensland, because, when the lockdown occurred, no permits were given to move horses from that facility. I remember the event clearly, because it was one of those issues where people said, 'Well now, this is a breakdown of quarantine in this country.' We were in government at the time; I remember it well.

The question is: where were the quarantine facilities and those associated with the administration and control of quarantine? How can a disease such as this escape from a secure quarantine facility in Sydney? If it can escape from a quarantine facility, what does it say about our other quarantine measures around Australia? Shouldn't we be running up the red alert in relation to quarantine generally? This was a breakdown in our quarantine.

It was contained because of the lockdown, but it affected some 8,000 properties around Australia. Compensation and measures to assist people affected—some $250-odd million—was just for the equine influenza incident affecting the horse industry. There are many other businesses associated with the horse industry that did not receive any compensation. It occurred at the very start of the breeding season, if I can put it that way, with our domestic blood horse industry. I have blood horse studs in the east of my electorate—exceptionally good studs—for the racing industry. They had mares about to travel to the property. They could not come, so the service fee that those stallions would have generated in income for those studs was not realised. The mares were not able to travel. Those that were there could be joined, but those that were travelling over the next month or six weeks were not able to travel. So it affected the bloodstock industry. Pony clubs, rodeos, camp draughts, farriers and the transport sector were all affected by this—and I go back to the original point—because of a breakdown in quarantine in Australia. We should be running the red alert out on quarantine.

If a simple equine influenza and a breakdown of our quarantine can occur in relation to the horse industry, what does it say about the new protocols in relation to New Zealand apples coming to Australia? I know what the decision is, but I have to say: not only should we have the red alert out there; we should also make sure that quarantine here in Australia and in New Zealand is of the highest and strictest standards. The very fact that equine influenza has entered Australia through a quarantine station—and the cost to the horse industry and to associated industries has not been measured—demonstrates to me that, if fire blight comes to Australia as a result of Quarantine saying the protocols for New Zealand apples coming into Australia will not lead to an outbreak of fire blight, which I do not accept, we will have it forever. This levy bill resulting from equine influenza in the horse industry must demonstrate to us all that our quarantine protocols are not strict enough, and I do not have confidence in the protocols for New Zealand apples coming into Australia. This very bill should be shining a red light on our quarantine protocols. What does this also say about the possibility of foot and mouth disease entering Australia through our quarantine entry points?

I have to say that I am very, very concerned about our quarantine. I am very concerned about the decision yesterday to allow New Zealand apples into Australia. I witnessed the accidental, as it were, introduction of equine influenza that escaped detection through a secure quarantine station. So what does that say about apples coming from New Zealand in a container? Are they going to go through a quarantine station? Are there going to be any inspections here in Australia? If fire blight were to get here, we would have it forever. It would destroy the apple industry. Governments would then have to pick up the costs to the industry and the costs to individual families and orchardists across those regions.

I know the reason for this bill. It will certainly raise money and it has received agreement from the industry itself. But if we had quarantine protocols and quarantine policing, this bill may never have come before the House because we would never have seen a shuttle stallion coming from Japan to Australia, which obviously led to the outbreak of equine influenza. I acknowledge it happened on our watch as a government, but it should send to both sides of the House a red alert that our quarantine protocols can never be compromised. I fear that, with the agreement to allow apples in from New Zealand, we have allowed a compromise. There is no such thing as zero risk when you allow the physical product into Australia. It is just like the situation with the horses: if you allow the physical product—the carrier of the disease—into Australia, you do run those risks. It is inevitable that you run those risks. There is no such thing as a zero risk. There is no such thing as a 100 per cent guarantee that it will not appear. Whilst this bill has the support of the industry, we must remain vigilant.

I can assure the House that I have got the red light shining on our quarantine right across Australia at every entry point, and I will certainly not be taking a back seat when it comes to keeping up scrutiny on this whole issue of quarantine. If we ever saw a breakdown in relation to foot and mouth disease entering Australia, I fear what it would do to our magnificent livestock industries in Australia. I am not wanting to lay the blame on anyone. It was on our watch as a government that this occurred. We have to make sure that we do not see a repeat of the mistakes of the past.

This levy has been agreed to by the industry to provide funds if circumstances warranting their use arise; they may never arise but, if they do, we will be prepared. Let us keep that red light shining. I will not be taking a backwards step at any stage in relation to quarantine. I thank the House.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011, which is being debated cognately with the Horse Disease Response Levy Collection Bill 2011 and the Horse Disease Response Levy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011. I do so because I have an abiding interest in all things equine. Just to give you a background as to why, Madam Deputy Speaker, right from a young person I spent a lot of time on the back of a horse. In fact, in my younger, sillier days I used to ride in rodeos in the circuit around Western Australia. I recall being on the front page of the West Australian riding the feature horse at the Western Australian Royal Show. It was not a very good picture because I was coming off at the time, but I did enjoy my involvement in those days. I further went on to semiprofessionally train thoroughbred racehorses for seven years, having my own stables at Ascot around that racecourse in Perth. I had some success in the city and the country training thoroughbreds.

When you extrapolate that into my electorate now, the Canning electorate is the home of much of Western Australia's horse industry. We have breeding facilities and probably the most pre-eminent is the Heytesbury horse stud, which is owned by the Holmes a Court family. We have many standardbred studs. We have the Pinjarra Trotting Club, which is probably the best trotting track in Western Australia. We have the Pinjarra Race Club, which has one of the best all-weather tracks and layout itself. Many of the hobby trainers, both at a standardbred level and at a thoroughbred level, operate within the electorate of Canning. For example, Byford has a training track, and if you were to fly over the area you would see that most of the five-acre lots spread throughout the semirural areas of my electorate have a trotting track in there for exercising by the hobby trainer with one or two trotters. The beaches are not too far away for those who want to exercise their horses on the beaches. Not only that but we have every form of equine activity there. We have the pony clubs, the polocrosse, the polo, the dressage—every form of equine activity is located within the Canning electorate.

So this is very important to my electorate and that is why I wish to speak about this issue. A new initiative is the Coolup equestrian centre, which the Shire of Murray in my electorate is endeavouring to get off the ground, based on the Australian equine livestock event centre in Tamworth, which cost $30 million. You have got to start somewhere, and a covered and indoor dressage area at Coolup is being promoted and is something I would like to get behind, given the opportunity through Regional Development Australia or some form of federal funding to help them continue. I helped open a riding for the disabled arena which had been sponsored by the local people in the shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale recently. On that basis this is a very important industry to me. As a horse tragic, I have just had another ordinary racehorse. I paid a lot of money for it. It won a race and placed several times in the city. But it was a $100,000 horse which I am going to have to give away because it is not of much value anymore, having ran last at its last run. That is the tragedy of being involved in horses. As they say, poverty is owning a racehorse.

Many people whose livelihoods depend on this industry are involved in this industry, right from those who sell feed, veterinary supplies or gear to those who train semiprofessionally as hobby trainers or those who train professionally. One of the leading trainers in Perth, Adam Durrant, operates in my area. Ross Oliveri, one of the best trainers in Perth at the moment, has his stables in my electorate, in the standardbred area. Probably Australia's pre-eminent reinsman, Chris Lewis, an Inter-Dominion winner, has his stud within the electorate of Canning.

All those people are very interested in the biosecurity issues surrounding thoroughbreds. When this EI outbreak first happened in 2007, or it could have been slightly earlier—I stand to be corrected on that—it was a surprise to Australia. We thought that as an island nation we were immune from the equine influenza virus. This is the case with Australia's location in respect of many of the exotic viruses that have been mentioned by the member for Maranoa, whether they be in the agricultural area, like fire blight, or with animals. Let us recall that we have had a long-term industry in which shuttle stallions come to Australia, generally from Europe, and we had not had a problem. We have lifted the quality of thoroughbreds in Australia by selective breeding by Northern Hemisphere shuttle stallions, largely from Britain—thanks to the magnificent breeding industry in Britain. If you look through the Australian on a Monday morning and check out the winners on the British racecourses you will find that many of the stallions that have sired the winners in Britain have sired the winners at Rose Hill or Flemington on the same day.

The member for Maranoa is quite correct: this outbreak happened as a result of a careless error in a quarantine facility. Let us recall the instance. A young track rider working in the facility was not properly washed down or disinfected before he left for the weekend. He then went to a pony club type of event, I believe it was, or a dressage event in northern New South Wales, and that is where the spread happened. As the member has also said, a standstill instruction was then given to all horses around Australia. They could not be moved, even in Western Australia, which EI did not reach. People from my electorate went to campdraft meetings around Carnarvon and were not allowed to shift for days and weeks. They were camped up there with their horses, which they were not allowed to move, and their vehicles were not allowed to move. The disruption to Western Australia was only minor, because we did not have the outbreak there. We did have some thoroughbred and standardbred meetings cancelled, but it was not like in the eastern states, where the movement restricted the breeding opportunities in that breeding season. Mares could not be taken to studs, and stallions could not be shifted around studs, because of the standstill instruction.

So it had a devastating effect, as a result of something as minor as a guy not washing down properly and then going to ride horses in a recreational sense on the weekend. I must say, it was a bit of a cheap shot for the member for Wakefield to say how terrible it was that it happened under our watch. Yes, we admit that, but we quite rightly believed that Australia was somewhat immune from equine influenza. If you recall, just a year before, two Japanese horses quinellaed the Melbourne Cup. That is where the virus is believed to have come from, because Japan has quite a history of equine influenza virus. I recall that the winner was Delta Blues, ridden by a Japanese jockey. I know that because I backed it, and I got the quinella, and because Damien Oliver rode the horse that came second—Alcopop, I believe its name was. It was an outstanding result, but the Japanese horses have not been back since, largely because they are an area of serious equine influenza infection.

I know others have talked to the details of this bill. The measures that have taken place had to happen in terms of the costs associated with not only monitoring but also eliminating this virus and other horse viruses. Of course, the first time this came through there was a knee-jerk reaction: we were going to hit everyone with a levy. Was the levy going to be collected in a certain way, how was it going to be managed, who would be responsible for it, what was going to happen to the interest, how would it be disbursed et cetera? The industry was not very happy about it. The casual recreational rider who has a horse in their backyard and just wants to ride in the bush on the weekend, or wants to go to a local pony club event, was being hit up largely for the standardbred and thoroughbred industries, and they were not happy about it. This measure that the industry now has been consulted on is far fairer and far more reasonable. If there is any outbreak like the equine influenza virus, the government will stump up the money and then, over a 10-year period, collect it back from the industry through a 50c levy on manufactured feeds, wormers and other veterinary supplies. That has been agreed to by the industry and as has been said not everyone is happy, but it is the fairest way. No money is being collected now. The levy is zero now because there is no biosecurity emergency in this area. Should there be one, the government would involve itself in committing to certain levels of payment. I understand, for example, that should there be another EI virus, like this, the government would pay 75 per cent of the levy and the industry would pay 25 per cent.

I would imagine all those details are in the explanatory memorandum of this bill. It has been well consulted and I want to congratulate all those involved. Senator Back, a pre-eminent vet from Western Australia and now a senator, is somebody who had a lot to do with this. I want to congratulate him and his committee members who inquired into this because it really is bringing a resolution to future outbreaks.

There are other issues which surround this. There are brumbies, for example—certainly not the Brumbies that play rugby for Canberra, because I understand they are not going too well. In the alpine regions of our eastern seaboard we have brumbies romantically wandering around the high country. Should they contract the disease, who is responsible for that? I suppose this levy clicks in on that. I was at Kakadu earlier this year. There were a heap of brumbies wandering around the wetlands there. It is a potential time bomb sitting out there for the equine industry because of these feral horses—or any feral animals. I read in the paper this morning about the goat industry—and dare I say, live export industry—involving goats from the sheep stations of Western Australia. The Middle East countries want to put a ban on that at the moment because they are concerned about rabies.

There are a whole lot of exotic and traditional diseases that surround our livestock but in this case, in the equine industry, we need to be ever vigilant. As an island nation we have been well regarded because of our lack of disease and the lack of impact it has had on our industry. It has been managed well until now. I think the mechanism that is in place now and obviously has bipartisan support is fair and reasonable and deals quite appropriately with any future crises that we may have in this industry.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like the member for Canning I have an electorate that has a similar spread of equine activities. We who breed, train and race a few thoroughbreds were, like so many around Australia, directly affected by the EI outbreak. We had a mare in New South Wales at that time and were unable to move her so, like for a lot of other people, that incurred a lot of additional costs and a number of challenges. That was replicated right around Australia. There is a very strong equine industry in my part of the world and it very much reflects that of the member for Canning. I commend him on his speech because he talks from very direct personal experience. It is the practical nature of his and Senator Chris Back's experience that is very important in this debate.

This Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011 was really brought about by the outbreak of equine influenza in 2007. It is by way of negotiation that we have got to this point and I commend the government on getting here and getting consensus, which has not been easy and has been quite protracted. However, the various species related influenza viruses have long been known as relatively host-specific but highly contagious pathogens. It is also well known that mutation of the virus is common—and that has been the concern with this—and has resulted in the development of cross-species infection and increases in morbidity and mortality.

Mutated influenza viruses are the ones that are likely to produce the pandemics. Those we have seen in human history—such as the Asiatic flu, the Spanish flu, the Hong Kong flu and even the swine flu—have killed millions. Influenza is also a concern for the threat of avian flu, known as bird flu. So it is a very real threat. This is a genuine threat. It is easily transmitted. It is transmitted through respiratory aerosol. It is also impossible to control where hosts are within range of exhaled air. That is the issue. It can spread so quickly and so easily.

The virus will survive in the environment long enough to be spread by other vectors, including humans, as we know from the EI outbreak which moved from one animal to another. I would think members in this place who have attempted to avoid the flu in here, out in the community or even with their children at school know that it is almost impossible to avoid, as we just heard. In any form, influenza is almost impossible to control once it arrives. It is very difficult.

That was so in 2007 with the outbreak which started at the Eastern Creek quarantine station. Four racehorses were imported from a country that had just experienced the equine flu outbreak from the quarantine station. This is something that does concern us all. It is an ongoing concern for me how we manage this quarantine issue.

I know that former judge Ian Callinan was asked to investigate and his response noted that:

The objective of biosecurity measures at a post-arrival quarantine station for animals, such as Eastern Creek, is to prevent the escape of disease that might be present in the station. It is therefore essential that people and equipment having contact with the animals are adequately decontaminated before leaving the station. That was not happening at Eastern Creek in August 2007. Had such biosecurity measures been in place, it is most unlikely that there could have been any escape of equine influenza from the Quarantine Station.

He said that was a consequence of a number of acts and omissions and that fundamental biosecurity measures were not being implemented in what was the largest government operated animal quarantine station in Australia at that time. It was a very serious breach. He also noted that there were people who needed to take responsibility—the Director of Animal and Plant Quarantine and the person who, under the minister, was charged with the Quarantine Act 1908.

Ian Callinan described Australia's quarantine system as inefficient, underfunded and lacking diligence. It really does concern me. I share the views of the member for Maranoa, of those expressed right throughout the parliament, on our side particularly, and of the member who commented:

This comprehensive report is a disturbing commentary on Australia's quarantine and biosecurity arrangements for horse imports before August last year.

That was said by the then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the member for Watson. He said that, while changes have been made, the commissioner has highlighted serious and systemic failures in the system and that the government is acting urgently to fix them.

The review of biosecurity by Roger Beale was well underway at that time. I am really concerned that the equine influenza outbreak was caused by a failure of quarantine protocols and that the government's response at that time was to basically just focus on the Beale quarantine and biosecurity review. But, by and large, the response has been to ignore the majority of that. There is real concern and not a lot of confidence in the government being able to maintain Australia's biosecurity to keep out pests and diseases in the future. There is no wonder when we address the bill that we see that we will be paying for an inevitable failure when it occurs. I will talk later about the risks to Australian apples and biosecurity beyond this.

The bill apportions the clean-up costs beyond the actual outbreak to various sections of the horse industry by relying on levying feed and worm treatments on the basis that all horse owners need them and use both. Whilst this might not always be necessarily considered a perfect method—and I do not know that there is one—it is a solution that has been accepted by equine enthusiasts and industry bodies, which is very important. The bill is neither groundbreaking nor unique. Many animal and plant industries in Australia already have legislation and schemes in place that have the industry pay for border protection failures. I note that, under the Constitution, particularly in section 69, the federal government and the parliament are responsible in relation to quarantine.

I am very concerned, as is the member for Maranoa, about how seriously the government takes its responsibility. Too often we have seen the breakdown of Australian biosecurity and the incursion of pests and diseases. We have seen government tell Australian businesses, producers and the community, 'We have failed you again at the border and, again, you will have to pay for that failure.' The dereliction of biosecurity duty will be exacerbated into the future as our quarantine policy continues to give ground, and that is what we saw yesterday by way of the recent decision to import New Zealand apples, in spite of the risks of fire blight, leaf curling midge and European canker.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Forrest will stick to the legislation before her, which is about horses.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, it is, Madam Deputy Speaker. But it is also about biosecurity and the very great need to protect that and how important that is right across the board. It touches on a range of issues. As we know, the quarantine policy of Australia should not just be about preventing the incursion of diseases and pests; it should not allow, as we saw following the Prime Minister's announcement, what occurred yesterday.

Our policy has been watered down to reduce the risks of incursion and, as we saw unfortunately yesterday— and I take the Deputy Speaker's comments on board—it will not eliminate the bacteria at all. That is an issue for biosecurity and that is what this bill is about. It is about maintaining our biosecurity and maintaining our disease- and pest-free reputation—our so-called clean, green, competitive advantage in a frequently tainted world. That is one of the opportunities we have, but we have to protect it at all costs. We certainly need the types of legislation and support from the government of the day to do so. We must reduce the risk.

Unfortunately, I have seen too much funding removed from our quarantine, Biosecurity and Customs budgets over the last few years. That really concerns me. It was $58 million one year and $38 million prior to that. That really allows me to pause and to think: how can that provide the government and the agencies we charge with the responsibility of managing our border security and issues such as equine influenza and other pests and diseases the capacity to do so? I say to the government: we must value Australia's agricultural and food production, and our biosecurity is a critical part of that.

Again, the government is responsible for quarantine and in this bill we have seen a way through in managing the expectations and the issues facing the industry across the board. While we are talking about equine matters, as the previous speaker, the member for Canning, said, we do have very vibrant industries in our parts of the world. Any outbreak of pests and diseases in the equine sector would and did have a major financial and economic impact.

By way of a final comment, I encourage the Yalyalup Pony Club, which is doing its best to make a bid to run the Quilty endurance event in my part of the world. That would be wonderful encouragement. On the basis of encouraging equine activity and the biosecurity measures to ensure that that can still happen, I support the bill.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forrest for her ingenious coming together to be relevant to the bill! The question is that this bill be now read a second time.

Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate all the contributions that honourable members have made in this debate and I certainly acknowledge the passion and interest in their electorates that they have reflected via their involvement in the issue of biosecurity and of course, in particular, the magnificent horse culture that exists in this country. I will comment more on that in a moment. To summarise, we have been talking—and the discussion has ranged widely—about the Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011, the Horse Disease Response Levy Collection Bill 2011 and the Horse Disease Response Levy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011, which provide for a mechanism to impose, collect and appropriate new levies on manufactured horse feed and worm treatments for horses. These levies have been requested by the horse industry, it is important to note, which has decided that the simultaneous application of a levy on worm treatments for horses and manufactured horse feed would provide the most equitable coverage of the industry.

The levies will be payable on the disposal of manufactured horse feed and worm treatments for horses from one party to another, and will be appropriated through the Animal Health Australia organisation. The levies will be set at a rate of zero, but the bills allow for regulations to be made to set a positive rate when required. This will provide the horse industry with a funding mechanism to repay the Commonwealth for moneys expended on its behalf in responding to an emergency outbreak of an animal disease affecting horses. The bills provide arrangements for governments and the horse industry to effectively and efficiently fund a quick, coordinated response to an emergency horse disease outbreak.

Members have made many interesting and passionate contributions—and I acknowledge the honesty of the member for Maranoa, who reflected that the equine influenza outbreak in August 2007 occurred on the previous government's watch. But we have approached the resolution of this issue in a bipartisan spirit. Members have commented on the significance of the horse culture in Australia, and I guess there is no region in the country that reflects that more than my own, as the home of the man from Snowy River. In fact, my family's first farm in Eden-Monaro, back in 1847, was on the Snowy River.

We have a big horse culture and industry in Eden-Monaro, with many equine schools, showjumping and horse racing. It is such a vital part of our community that you could not imagine Eden-Monaro without our horse culture. So that period from August 2007 onwards was devastating. All of our country shows were adversely affected through that period. It was so sad to see the absence of horses at those shows and the scrambling to try and fill that void with motorcycle displays and the like, dog races et cetera. As thrilling as they were, the absence of horses really left a hole for us and knocked a lot of people around across a broad range of activities—not just horse racing but the leisure industry as well. For me personally it was a big issue that we had to confront, and we have confronted it, as I mentioned, in a bipartisan way. As has been commented on by members, the majority of stakeholders do support these arrangements.

Members also commented on biosecurity and whether or not we are adequately addressing that issue, and I feel that I should make reference to what this government is doing in that space, from the lessons that we have learned. It is important to note that, in the 2011-12 budget, the government has committed very high and significant levels of spending—$425.4 million, in fact, over four years, for our border control, quarantine and biosecurity operations, including $205.6 million for Customs. In that budget, there is also $15.4 million for continuing eradication programs, $4.2 million to improve information access and communications in relation to our biosecurity systems and $19.1 million for staged investment for post-entry quarantine arrangements. In addition, there is work in progress relating to the budgeting for and expenditure on future post-entry quarantine arrangements for land acquisition.

This government stands with a proud record of addressing the biosecurity issues that have emerged. I note the comments that have been made in relation to the apple situation, but we are dealing with a decision that has been handed down by the World Trade Organisation. This government has been, as previous governments have been, out there solidly and aggressively advocating for the liberalisation of trade in the agricultural sector. There is nothing that would benefit our country more than the liberalisation of trade, and we were aggressively arguing this case only very recently as I attended the agricultural ministers meeting of the G20; we pushed this case very vigorously. The sole focus of that meeting was on food security and price volatility. The research that was done to underpin that meeting focused squarely upon the issue of trade liberalisation, as did the FAO meeting that we had in Rome following that, where Kofi Annan gave an impassioned speech about the devastating impacts of subsidies to agriculture, now approaching $400 billion—a massive distortion of the trade, and a holding back of countries like those in Africa, which has 60 per cent of the world's uncultivated land. To meet our food security needs pushing towards the huge population expansion we will see by 2050, and to feed a hungry world, we have to break down those barriers and eliminate those distortions, and there will be massive opportunities for our own farmers in that space.

I note the comments in relation to the risk and threat of fire blight. Prior to the last election, Batlow was in my electorate. I have met with great farmers like Greg Mouat and his crew. The concern about fire blight is a genuine one, and the security measures that we will put in place will certainly be targeted at and focused on that threat.

I thank members for their contributions and I welcome the fact that we are now able to step forward on this issue to meet the threats that we face to our horse culture and the fact that we have a mechanism to address it adequately in the future while maintaining our agricultural production and exports as well as the environment and public health.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.