Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation (Senator Abetz) to a question without notice asked by Senator O’Brien today relating to quarantine arrangements and equine influenza.

We would have to say that this is an issue on which we have a clear failure of this government’s approach to quarantine. We have a system where this government was warned not just once in 2004, not just once in 2005, but on repeated occasions that its system of quarantine, particularly in relation to the disease equine influenza, made us more liable for the incursion of that disease into Australia. And did the government know that the disease was such a debilitating disease and could be communicated so easily? Well, yes, it did.

Indeed, the AUSVETPLAN, the government’s own document, makes it very clear that it is a disease which can spread on the wind over a distance of eight kilometres. It is a disease that can be carried on the bodies or clothes of human beings who come in contact with horses. It is a disease, indeed, which can be carried by animals that have been vaccinated against it. And yet, in August of this year, horses were returned from Japan after stud duties—horses that had been vaccinated and introduced into the Eastern Creek quarantine facility. Those horses, in the presence of other horses, came from a country which, it very soon became apparent, was in the throes of an equine influenza outbreak. What special steps did the government take? Well, none. What new arrangements were put in place in relation to the horses at Eastern Creek? Well, none. What other measures were put in place to ensure that everyone was aware that there was a potential problem because of the horses coming in and the risk? Well, none again.

The fact of the matter is that what we have seen is a massive failure of our quarantine system. Despite the fact that the government will try to paint this up as a matter which is in doubt, the reality is that the overwhelming weight of evidence will indicate that this disease originated from the Eastern Creek quarantine facility, that this disease emanated from there because the quarantine arrangements at Eastern Creek were not up to standard, that this disease occurred because the government was not alive to the real consequences of the introduction of the disease and that this disease occurred because the government was not listening to the Australian Racing Board’s warnings back in 2004-05 about the risks that the disease posed, the very infectious nature of the disease and the damage the disease would cause to the Australian racing and breeding industry.

We have seen racing close down in parts of Australia. Certainly New South Wales and Queensland are bearing the brunt, but of course the racing industry in Victoria are now saying that they are bearing a financial burden disproportionate to that which they should have to carry because of the lack of racing product in other states and the fact that they have to provide a product for other states’ betting mechanisms—the mechanisms which fund the whole industry.

We are seeing in the Hunter Valley major studs being closed down and the movement of animals stopped, including the movement of stallions locked up in Eastern Creek. There is the potential threat to the new foal crop. It is said that this disease can have up to a 40 per cent mortality rate for young horses. That could see not just the crop coming from this year’s stallion services but also the crop from last year’s stallion services being reduced by the spread of the disease. The damage that this disease could do to Australia’s breeding and racing thoroughbred industries could be enormous, and of course the standardbred industry is being affected as well because of movement restrictions. Now questions, questions which I need to further investigate, are being raised about whether the transportation of semen for the standardbred industry—which, unlike the thoroughbred industry, allows artificial insemination—might be affected by some of these horse transportation bans. All of these issues need to be addressed.

Frankly, the main issue could have been avoided. There were warnings in the letter from the Australian Racing Board about the impact of this disease in the Republic of South Africa in late 1986, when the racing industry was closed down. Veterinarians in that sector played a primary role in the outbreak as well, and the suggestion from the Australian Racing Board was that if you did not control the access of people to these horses you had no chance of controlling the disease. We will find in all likelihood that that has been the problem here. (Time expired)

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The judgement that people ought to make as to whether or not an opposition is mature enough to gain government should be made on the way it approaches national emergencies such as the one we are looking at with equine influenza. Senator Kerry O’Brien has comprehensively failed that test. He does not acknowledge the cooperative response of state Labor governments in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. He does not acknowledge, for example, that we have in place protocols that are very good but that we are willing to look at them.

Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Very good? They have failed!

John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator O’Brien! Senator Abetz, resume your comments through the chair.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. Mr Deputy President, I did listen to a nonsensical speech in silence, so I would have thought that Senator O’Brien might have listened in silence to a sensible speech in response. For example, on 8 May 2001 the Australian Racing Board wrote to the Australian government under the heading, ‘Suspension of importation of horses from Europe because of foot-and-mouth disease’. They were expressing their frustration regarding the continuing ban on the importation of horses from England and Europe imposed as a result of the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in those regions of the world. So we have a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and we put in very strict controls, but what happens? The industry is critical. With all quarantine matters, what you need is a good, sensible balance. If what Senator O’Brien says is correct—that the disease was introduced to Australia from overseas—then the question is: were the appropriate protocols undertaken prior to the export of those horses? Then it is: were proper procedures followed in Australia after their importation?

Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But were they quarantined in Japan? Were they vaccinated in Japan?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator O’Brien, if he were to be silent for a while and stop all the hubris that the opposition has been going on with for the last two days and if he were actually willing to listen, would know that we as a government have said that these issues are of such a serious nature that they deserve investigation by the highest possible sort of inquiry. Hence retired High Court judge Ian Callinan has been appointed to undertake an inquiry. The inquiry will not be stifled. In fact, when Mr Callinan and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr McGauran, went to the media to announce the inquiry, Mr Callinan was asked whether his terms of reference would be good enough and he made comments to the effect that if he thought he needed broader terms of reference he would in fact ask for them—and Mr McGauran indicated that they would be granted.

What else would a responsible opposition want other than a full, transparent inquiry? A responsible opposition would stop there and congratulate the government on that initiative. An irresponsible opposition would seek to make political capital out of the plight of an industry that is worth $3.6 billion to the Australian economy, has 10,000 commercial horses and employs I do not know how many thousands of people on a part- and full-time basis right around this country, especially in rural and regional areas. Can I indicate that when there is an outbreak of a particular disease—and it has happened under Labor governments, it has happened under a coalition government and it will continue to happen into the future as long as we have international travel and international trade—what we need to do is try to minimise the risk as much as possible. Above all, what the Australian people want is government—their Commonwealth government and their state governments—and opposition cooperating in moments of emergencies like this, not the sort of cheap politicking that we have been exposed to by Senator O’Brien.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion. What is clear is that the federal government has provided $110 million for the equine influenza assistance package. What isn’t clear is whether that is sufficient, whether that is accepted by the industry and whether that will in fact be able to deal with the seriousness of the outbreak to date. We will have an opportunity to hear from the government about those matters, and we do need the government to explain its role. It should not hide behind an inquiry such as the one that has been announced. It needs to be able to detail in fact what have been the events that have occurred and what the government’s role and actions have been.

Rather than apportioning blame this government should be rolling up its sleeves, putting its support behind those affected by the outbreak and taking the matter seriously. What we have not had in this area to date is a responsible government. It is the government’s responsibility to determine what the rescue package should be and how to help people who find themselves in dire financial circumstances because of a ‘failure’, as I will call it, in Australia’s quarantine system. I do not want to apportion blame. The inquiry will determine where the fault lies in this matter.

As is so often the case, it is clear that things have now been left up to the states, to Queensland and New South Wales, to cope with the fallout after this quarantine breach. That is what is happening: while the federal government is passing the buck and the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr McGauran, is accusing Queensland of responding too slowly to the EI threat, Queensland has been putting its money where its mouth is. Queensland has been employing people to take on the role and investing thousands of dollars and man-hours endeavouring to contain this devastating disease.

Let’s look at the actions of Mr McGauran. How seriously should we take him? This is a minister who communicates via media statements but cannot get his facts right. Instead of adhering to the national and industry approved AUSVETPLAN procedures, the minister right up to the last minute maintained in the media, in the Melbourne Age on Friday, 24 August, that ‘we are determined that it get no further than the gates of the quarantine centre’.

We now know that it has got further than that. Sometimes it is best simply to say nothing at all, quite frankly. Again, on 5 September, when the states were battling equine influenza and all the federal government had come up with was a $4 million assistance package, the foot went back in the mouth. Mr McGauran accused Queensland of failing to act on the national standstill put in place on 25 August. He was wrong. Let’s look at the facts: Queensland did act, along with all states and territories which took part in the discussion that led to the decision on the national standstill. He then said that the lockdown at Morgan Park, Warwick, was ‘put in place the following day’. Wrong again! The fact is that, despite there being no definitive proof that EI was at Morgan Park on 25 August, the Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer quite rightly erred on the side of caution and quarantined the park that afternoon. I am told that equine influenza has now affected more than 80 properties in Queensland. It is costing the horse industries, not just the racing industries, in Queensland and New South Wales tens of millions of dollars. It will affect those industries for months, possibly even years, to come.

It is all very well for the federal government to ride in—I was going to say on a horse but in this instance they are more likely to be on a motorbike—and say, ‘We’re here and we’ve got our taxpayer funded chequebook with us.’ That is what they said. Would it not have been better for them to have said, ‘It’s entered our country and we need to do something about it’? I know what the horse industry would prefer: they would prefer a government that are honest with them.

Turning to the inquiry still to come, I hope the minister has the terms of reference and can table them today so that the industry can see what they are. The government have had quite a while to provide the terms of reference. I hope they are also going to explain that they have consulted with the industry about the terms of reference, that they have worked through those terms of reference and will be able to table them as soon as possible so that the industry can see what they are. This is a difficult area, but what needs to happen is that those terms of reference— (Time expired)

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I entered the debate on this motion in order to have a sensible debate about this very important issue, but I have to say that the contribution of Senator Ludwig, the previous speaker, was confused and disjointed and I really suggest that he get a better speechwriter. He obviously read every word of his speech. Someone obviously wrote it for you, Senator Ludwig, but perhaps you should check out your speechwriter because it was a very confused and disjointed approach. I can understand, Senator Ludwig, why you are a little confused today.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’ve got nothing to say on the matter. Why don’t you enter the debate?

John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Ludwig!

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know that Anna Bligh is going to become the Premier of Queensland and I know that you and your faction, Big Bill Ludwig’s faction, do not want Anna Bligh there, do you? So I can understand why you are a fraction confused today, Senator Ludwig. You really should be out working the phones to try to make sure that Queensland does not have its first female Premier. For that reason, I guess I can understand the disjointed nature of your contribution and the very confused way in which it was put.

On our side of parliament we do consult very widely, and Senator Abetz, although only the representative minister here, does understand the question and has spoken with the industry, as I know Minister McGauran has. I have to say as well that, on our side of parliament, we do have people who are actually experts in this field. I refer you to my colleague in the other place Wilson Tuckey, who was for several years the head of the racing industry, the equine competition industry, in Western Australia. We have those sorts of people on our side of parliament because we do attract people to parliament from a wide range of walks of life.

On that note, I was interested to see in the paper today that, of the 20 people standing for the Senate for the Labor Party at the next election, 15 of them have a union background, four of them are staffers and one is a state MP. So, of the 20 candidates from the ALP wanting to come into this chamber, not one of them has ever had a real job. They are simply union hacks, political staffers or state Labor MPs looking for greener pastures.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How embarrassing: you’ve got nothing to say.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can understand your embarrassment, Senator Ludwig, and your interjections. I know you are very concerned about Anna Bligh getting into the Queensland parliament.

George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I raise a point of order. I do not mind listening to Senator Ian Macdonald’s ravings and rantings—sometimes they are quite amusing—but he at least should be relevant to the subject. He has not even touched on the subject before the chamber—that is, the debate in respect of the answers given to questions on equine flu. He has not even mentioned it yet and he has been speaking for 2½ minutes.

John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order, Senator George Campbell. Senator Macdonald, you know what the question before the chair is; I am sure you will address that.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. I can understand Senator George Campbell’s embarrassment. Every person coming into the Senate from that side is a union hack or a parliamentary staffer. I was only making the point that on our side of parliament we have people like Wilson Tuckey who are genuinely interested in this horse epidemic and who have expertise, because we select candidates from a wide range of services.

But I could not understand Senator Ludwig’s approach when he said, ‘The government doesn’t need to hide behind the inquiry.’ I thought that was pretty strange. Do I take it from that, Senator Ludwig, that the Labor Party does not support the inquiry by former High Court judge Ian Callinan? I would have thought that the government showed a great deal of common sense and courage in appointing a fearless jurist like Mr Callinan to conduct this inquiry—a person who not only has a long history in the legal profession and in higher juristic intents but also is well versed in the racing industry. I would have thought the best thing the government could have done—and I congratulate Mr McGauran on this—is to appoint a person of the calibre of Mr Ian Callinan to conduct this inquiry.

Whatever Senator O’Brien or Senator Ludwig might be talking about, if there is any accuracy in what they say, it will come out in this judicial inquiry. That inquiry is the approach we should all be supporting to see where the influenza came from, how it was dealt with, who should have been responsible and what we should do in the future. That is the way we should deal with it. I am delighted that Mr McGauran has understood that and encouraged and in fact set up this inquiry so that we can get to the bottom of the issue. I am disappointed that it now appears the ALP are not supporting that inquiry by Mr Callinan. (Time expired)

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition (Social and Community Affairs)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am quite astounded by that contribution to the debate because it is quite clear to me that if the government had actually listened to the Australian Racing Board three years ago, when it said that changes to quarantine procedures on imported horses would expose this country to just the kind of equine influenza pandemic that we are currently dealing with, we would not be here debating this issue today. The ARB was so concerned at the time about quarantining procedures that it highlighted the risks that were going to be presented in hiring commercial horse floats and in the use of private vets instead of AQIS officers. But the government was prepared to let all of that go by the by, and what have we got? We have the most extraordinary devastation of the racing industry in Australia that could possibly have been imagined.

I want to focus today on the influence of this pandemic on my home state of New South Wales, because it is most significantly affected by equine influenza. What do we have in New South Wales? Fifty thousand or so people earn their living in the horse-racing industry, and in New South Wales at the moment we have 410 properties with 4,427 horses and 24 restricted areas being quarantined because of the outbreak of equine influenza. That has to have quite an extraordinary economic impact.

Let me tell you, Mr Deputy President, what the impact will be, not just on this racing season but on the next racing season. There will be huge impacts, first of all on horse breeding. A whole series of horse-breeding regimes have now been placed in serious jeopardy. We know that the young horses that are being bred at the moment are particularly vulnerable to equine influenza, and in fact it is fatal in up to about 40 per cent of young horses—that is vulnerability just for this year. Alongside that, we have the inability to move mares and stallions around, and that will have a drastic impact both this year and next year on the breeding season.

The inability to move horses around affects almost all rural industries. It impacts on the sheep and cattle industries because stockhorses cannot be moved to do mustering and droving, and this in turn stops people from inoculating or weaning their stock. People have to start thinking about the fact that the impact is actually beyond the racing industry in New South Wales. We have the farriers, who are usually in contact with multiple and successive horses. They have just about lost their work for this season, as have the companies involved in livestock transport. The livelihood of the veterinarians is also affected. Vets in regional areas and vets specialising in equine services have been particularly hard-hit already.

Let me tell you about the impact of this just on my home town. This is where we see the importance of having appropriate quarantining facilities.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Abetz interjecting—

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition (Social and Community Affairs)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have already lost one race meeting, Minister, and up to five more events are under threat, including the first at the new pacing racetrack. Goulburn’s association with the industry goes back more than 100 years and the first Goulburn Cup was run in 1885. Harness events have been run since the early 1900s and last Sunday the Goulburn Pony Club celebrated its 50th anniversary. But Goulburn’s eight-race program has been cancelled because of the lockdown across New South Wales, costing the club more than $20,000.

These race meetings are very important for a community like Goulburn. Much of the money raised goes back into the community, so the flow-on effect to the local charities is just one more impact of this pandemic that we are facing. The Goulburn hospital has its Melbourne Cup Day race and $10,000 or so is raised in that event for the Goulburn hospital. There is also $10,000 for the Challenge Foundation, which supports disabled children in Goulburn. All of this is now up in the air. The Spring Racing Carnival is scheduled to start on 8 October and we do not know that it is going to happen.

Let’s be real about this. Where are the terms of reference for this inquiry? Where are they? Are they going to the issue of the responsibility of Mr McGauran and Minister Truss in dealing with what has been a debacle in terms of the breaking of quarantine, the failure of our quarantine— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.