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

I was going to speak on the third reading of the last bill, the Australian Crime Commission Amendment Bill 2007, but I did not. But I will speak on the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007. This is a matter that does have a devastating effect on Queensland. The breakdown or what appears to be a breakdown of quarantine such as has been articulated in the press and at large affects not only the racing industry per se but also broader interest groups and stakeholders in this area. It affects not only those who go to the races themselves—and who might place a bet every now and then—but also those who attend riding schools, the strappers, the trainers and those who have stud farms. All of those people are adversely affected. Of course when you go back and look at the issues to do with AQIS you see that a lot of them were raised in the Nairn report. The issues around the breakdown of our border security were ventilated at that time. It is important to make sure that we do have integrity of our borders. It is important to maintain our borders to ensure that these breaches do not occur.

It is particularly encouraging to see that the government have moved to provide an inquiry. That inquiry should be wide ranging enough to ensure that all the matters that are brought forward by people can be clearly articulated and properly examined during the inquiry. This area of course has many stakeholders, and it is incumbent upon the government to ensure that those stakeholders have the ability to put forward their submissions and the ability to articulate their concerns. It is important that the system has integrity to ensure that the outcomes are also respected. What the government should also take on board is that any findings or recommendations made by the inquiry be provided with sufficient support and encouragement so that the industry can examine those. What this industry does seem to have been characterised by—which you see especially when you look at the Nairn report itself—is a series of breaches of quarantine over the last couple of years. Issues such as whether or not the department keeps statistics on these things or a frequency graph to ensure that it manages its border protection should also be ventilated to ensure that the industry does gain a valuable insight into the operation of AQIS and how it maintains our borders. Having said that, I will end my contribution at this point. I see that the shadow minister has turned up to provide a contribution to this debate.

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

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President Macdonald. I know that you have a strong interest—indeed, a vested interest—in equine issues, as a keen rider. At least you were in the past; I am not sure of the current status of your equestrian pursuits. I think the reality is that this is an issue which pertains to anyone with an interest in the various breeds of horse within the equine population of Australia, as well as some other animals that are affected by this disease. So far as the opposition are concerned, we have long been of the view that Australia needed a rigorous and secure quarantine system and that our island status effectively equipped us to resist the introduction of a great many diseases, including the equine influenza disease. This is a disease that exists in horse populations in every significant country around the world where such populations exist—until recently with the exception of Australia and New Zealand. This is a disease which has caused havoc in the countries in which outbreaks have occurred—closing down racing industries; significantly affecting breeding industries; limiting the movement of horses; and occasioning significant expense because of the need, where the disease widely penetrates the equine population of a country, for the introduction of vaccines. These vaccines have a high cost, mask the presence of the disease and make it more difficult to ultimately detect and therefore control in terms of its spread.

We were free for quite some time of this disease that has caused significant problems for racing industries in South Africa, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The situation that we found ourselves in from about 24 August this year was one that shocked Australia’s racing and breeding industries. Thoroughbreds and standardbreds in the racing industry have been affected, and there has also been a significant impact on the breeding industry.

We have seen the introduction of a disease. Whilst it has not been absolutely proven, there have been a variety of comments which I think allow me to say that the overwhelming probability is that the disease was introduced by stallions flown into Australia on 8 August this year that had spent some time in Japan. Japan experienced an outbreak of equine influenza that was first noticed around 14 August, which means that it was present before that time. The horses that came from Japan arrived on 8 August, so there was a significant overlap.

One would have thought that, with horses coming from a country where there had been an outbreak of disease, we would have had barrier arrangements and quarantine arrangements in place to prevent the disease from escaping. As I understand it, those horses arrived from Japan in a box or crate, were lifted off the aircraft and walked from the crate into a float and were moved from Mascot airport. Some horses were moved to Eastern Creek in Western Sydney and some to Spotswood in Victoria. It turned out that it was the Eastern Creek horses which were carrying the disease, apparently. There is a possibility that the disease found its way onto the truck which carried the horses from the airport and that it was not properly cleaned when the horses were disembarked at Eastern Creek and that the disease was spread that way, but it is much more likely, given other material that is in the public domain, that the disease spread from Eastern Creek. I will come to my reasons for saying that shortly.

This would have to be the worst instance of a breakdown of Australia’s quarantine in living memory. This disease has an impact upon equine industries which can only be measured in millions of dollars, in thousands of jobs and in lost opportunities. Let me extrapolate from a couple of those propositions. The disease has now moved extensively into the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley is the home of a number of thoroughbred studs. Those thoroughbred studs house stallions with the most expensive service fees in this country. Within that region are the young horses from the previous crop and mares that are expecting to foal down and conceive during the current season. The disease may mean that the Hunter Valley is isolated for a period of months and, depending on how long that lasts, that might mean that the yearlings in the Hunter Valley will not be able to be sent to the yearling sales coming up early next year. The impact of that will be enormous, let alone the impact of the disease on racing carnivals and on the stallions that are detained at the Eastern Creek quarantine centre. One of those stallions has a stud fee of $225,000 a service. I am told that he would be expected to cover 50 or more mares a month whilst in service from the beginning of September. It does not take much to work out that there will be millions of dollars lost to the owners of that animal, let alone any others.

How did this come to pass? We are not sure. The Labor Party was first in calling for a judicial inquiry into this matter. When the outbreak in Japan was known, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said on 19 August in relation to this matter that:

Australia will not take any risks with horses being imported from countries where EI is present.

On 24 August, he said:

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.

While it’s too early to be certain, we suspect this to be one of the horses from Japan, given there has been an outbreak of EI in that country.

On 27 August, because there had been an outbreak at Maitland, the minister said that the Maitland event might have been the source of the domestic outbreak. On 28 August, the minister said:

We still cannot track the actual source of the infection and therefore blame or liability cannot be assigned …

We just don’t know - there has been no breach of the impenetrable quarantine barriers at Eastern Creek, our focus has shifted to Maitland where a couple of hundred horses passed through and have passed it to other horses.

On 28 August, when talking about whether the disease had come from overseas, the minister then said:

You would assume that because we’ve never had it in Australia before ... but it might have been dormant and come to the surface.

That is a remarkable contribution! On 31 August, he said:

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

He also said:

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

The minister bounced around all over the place between 19 August and 31 August in relation to whether the disease came from overseas, whether it got into Eastern Creek or whether it originated magically out of nowhere in Maitland. That is a remarkable set of contributions, all in the context of an industry facing a dramatic circumstance, millions of dollars in losses and the inevitable discussion about the possibility of a massive legal case being taken against the Commonwealth because of a breakdown in the Commonwealth’s quarantine arrangements in this country.

Something that has been little noted in public commentary about this was published by AAP on 30 August. It is not sourced to an individual; it is sourced to an unnamed person. It is very interesting to read, and I propose to put it into Hansard. The story reads:

Quarantine procedures at the federal government’s Eastern Creek facility in Sydney have been regularly breached, according to a stallion groom formerly employed by a leading US stud.

The groom, who declined to be named, told AAP today he and other grooms of overseas shuttle stallions were allowed to come and go from Eastern Creek without using strict biosecurity and quarantine measures while caring for their horses at the facility in 2001 and 2003.

The groom was employed by a leading Kentucky stud and was in charge of seven stallions during his first trip in 2001 and four stallions in 2003.

The groom revealed he and other stallion grooms were allowed to leave Eastern Creek on numerous occasions, without changing clothes or “scrubbing down”, to attend race meetings, play golf and to eat and drink at local hotels and restaurants.

The Eastern Creek centre is one of the possible sources of Australia’s first equine influenza (EI) outbreak which has shut down racing in Queensland and New South Wales.

Later on the article goes on to say:

The groom was required to stay at Eastern Creek by his employers, but conditions for the stallions and their handlers at the time were so bad he and others frequently left the quarantine centre.

“I unloaded the horses from a national transport truck into the facility and was supposed to stay there with the horses all the time,” the groom said.

“But the conditions for the horses were only just acceptable. If they were my stallions I wouldn’t be taking them there.

“They didn’t wash out trucks after horses were unloaded and drivers used to help unload horses and then drove off after they were in contact with horses.

“There was no scrubbing down. Not once.

“I was there for two weeks each time and I never saw a foot-bath—which you are supposed to use all the time.”

The groom said walking out of Eastern Creek was easy and he did it often to eat at a local pub.

“We had to let them know when we were going out but no one enforced any of the quarantine protocols,” he said.

“They knew what was happening but we were free to do what we liked.

“I even went to the races at Randwick with five other grooms and played golf on a few occasions without scrubbing down.

“A well-known breeding stud had a big marquee at Randwick one day and I was invited and went along ...”

It is remarkable that a person who was in a quarantine facility with horses coming from a country that might carry diseases can come and go without any quarantine procedures. Not only that, he can go to the local pub, go to the races and attend the marquees of people running studs in other parts of the country. The potential for disease spread was enormous.

That is one of the reasons we need a thorough and rigorous examination of this matter. Who was in charge of quarantine facilities, if these were the circumstances that existed? The minister last week was asked a question in the House of Representatives. It was to the effect that, in the last two weeks, procedures were tightened at Eastern Creek, and, to go to the local pub for lunch, grooms and handlers were required to change and shower both coming in and going out. That was a new procedure that had not previously applied, although there had been regular visits by those handlers from the quarantine facility to the local pub. There has not yet been an answer to that question. I think we are entitled to draw the conclusion that, if the minister cannot rule it out, that is exactly what has happened—that the arrangements, rules, regulations and requirements of contractors, probably, at Eastern Creek have not been appropriate for a quarantine facility.

If horses were introduced from another country and a disease as infectious as equine influenza came into the facility, and if the arrangements that were described by the unnamed person in that AAP story are an accurate reflection of what has been going on, the only thing that is remarkable is that we have not had a disease outbreak in horses from that facility earlier. There may be other issues with the operation of that facility and with other animals or plants there that have not been securely kept, and we may have other problems which we do not yet know about or which have not been sourced to that environment. But, as I said earlier, we now have a situation where it is almost certain that a disease has been introduced into this country, in all likelihood by procedures which have not been appropriate or rigorous enough to meet the requirements of a modern, world’s best practice quarantine facility.

We called for a judicial inquiry very early in the piece—I think on 24 August, shortly after it was known that the outbreak occurred. It was very clear to me and to other members of the opposition that the consequences of this outbreak, if it spread, would be enormous. Unfortunately, that has been the case, and we do not wish that upon the industry. We now need to conduct a rigorous inquiry which examines all of the matters relevant to the protocols, procedures and rules which applied to the importation of horses and to any decisions which have been taken from a ministerial level to a managerial level and down and to assess the impact of those decisions on the practices, procedures and protocols that apply to facilities such as this and determine their impact on the circumstances which we, and these industries, find ourselves in now.

We support the concept of a judicial inquiry with all of the powers of a royal commission because that is what we are told this legislation creates—that is, the taking of the royal commission powers from royal commission legislation and introducing them to the quarantine legislation with one exception, which we understand is to do with the powers of search, because those powers already exist in the quarantine legislation. We support those measures. We believe there should be a rigorous, thorough, open, transparent public inquiry. There should be the opportunity for interested parties to present evidence and to cross-examine witnesses. We believe that the relevant ministers should give evidence at such an inquiry and be available for cross-examination. Certainly, so far as we are aware, the two relevant ministers are Minister Truss, who was the relevant minister going back to 2003-04, when correspondence from the Australian Racing Board suggested that there were problems with the quarantine arrangements and those problems could well lead to the introduction of equine influenza—quite prophetic predictions by the Australian Racing Board—and the current minister, Minister McGauran, who was presiding over the regime when the outbreak actually occurred. We need to understand the role that the minister played and whether there were any deficiencies in the role the minister played in relation to the disease.

We do say that the terms of reference contained in the legislation are not adequate and we will be dealing with that proposition in the committee stage of this legislation. We think that it is appropriate for those terms of reference to be binding and not optional to the minister, as the current legislation provides, because although the legislation lays down three so-called terms of reference it allows the minister to allocate all or any of those terms to the commissioner, Mr Callinan, to deal with the matter. We do not think that is appropriate. The other matter we will be addressing in the committee stage is the issue of the publication of Mr Callinan’s report. We do not accept that that should only be the province of the minister. We think that the legislation is deficient in that respect. It should require the tabling in the parliament of that report, and we will be moving an amendment to that effect as well. I intend to have more to say in the committee stage of this legislation.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise this evening to support the Quarantine Amendment (Commission of Inquiry) Bill 2007 in order that there be an appropriate investigation into this outbreak of equine influenza in Australia. I was interested when this was first reported, having spent the last few years in this place on the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport looking at issues of quarantine. I was immediately conscious of the fact that, if this had come from a quarantine centre, it was a major breach of Australian quarantine protocols and regulations. It is just another reminder of how vulnerable Australia is to the outbreak of disease and how important it is for us to maintain disease-free status in as many areas as we possibly can.

I welcome the fact that the government has decided to have an inquiry which is effectively a royal commission inasmuch as it has all the powers of a royal commission but is set up under Quarantine Act because it will allow for the additional powers that the act also affords investigating authorities. I am hopeful that this inquiry under Justice Callinan will get to the bottom of how equine influenza got to Australia and how it got from the quarantine centre into the broader population.

I certainly concur with remarks to date on the massive impact equine influenza has had in the Australian community and the rural community in particular. Not only has it had an economic impact but you only have to listen to the stories of people involved in eventing, for example, people involved in getting their horses ready for the Olympics, to hear of the heartbreak suffered by people who innocently have been caught up in the disaster that has been equine influenza. That, of course, is not to mention those people who have huge investments in the racing industry. Whilst the government has moved to offer some income compensation, you can never compensate people adequately for the loss of opportunity. Of course, racing is a gaming industry as well and you can never compensate people for the fact that they may have had their animals in preparation for a certain race at a certain time and that opportunity will not come again. It will present in different ways but not under the same sorts of circumstances. There are a lot of people around Australia whom I would classify as being in the amateur field around horses and who have been devastated by this in the same way as those who are involved in a professional capacity. Of course, in rural communities it has had a significant impact as well.

My initial response to this was to be quite mystified as to how horses that had arrived in Australia on 8 August could have been carrying the disease when the protocol, as it is set down, means that those horses had to have been in quarantine in Japan for four weeks before they started their journey to Australia. Assuming that their journey to Australia took a maximum of 24 to 48 hours, they had already been in Japanese quarantine for four weeks. So I am glad to see that this inquiry is also going to enable an investigation into the appropriateness of protocols at the Japanese end. With the way that the horseracing and breeding industries are these days, you have horses in Eastern Creek and probably in Japan which have come from, for example, the United States and Ireland. They are going to be servicing the breeding industry in Japan and then moving on to Australia and back and so on. It is very indicative of how difficult it is to try to contain a disease of this kind once it begins.

At the Japanese end, I am particularly keen that there be an investigation of the appropriateness of the time response. Certainly, when I looked on the internet to see when this was first reported in Japan, I found that the Japanese racing authority had had a press conference on 16 August to say that 20 thoroughbreds in Japan were infected with equine flu. At the press conference they admitted that the day before, 15 August, 200 vets had been despatched across Japan to look at various racing facilities, and presumably quarantine facilities as well.

Yet the Japanese government did not officially report the disease until 24 or 25 August, some considerable time—at least 10 days—after vets had been dispatched in Japan because there was a suspicion of the disease. We have got to ask ourselves: ‘Do Australian authorities wait to be officially informed when the internet will tell you that the racing authorities in the home country have had a press conference and told the whole country that they have this disease and that there is a lockdown and cancellation of races?’ The Kanazawa racetrack did not hold its races the weekend after that because of the symptoms of disease in horses in Japan. All international trade depends on countries being timely in their notification of globally notifiable infectious diseases. Countries also rely on timely, authoritative and accurate certification when they give export or import permits. Australia relies on that system globally, and every other country does as well.

In this case, the Australian embassy would be reporting back, one would hope, to the Australian government on a daily basis on anything that is reported in the Japanese press—and any other press around the world where we have an embassy—on issues that may well affect Australian trade or interests. There would have been an awareness, you would have thought, once that press conference was held, that that was the situation in Japan. If those horses had been in quarantine for four weeks before that in Japan, we should have been able to make some calls to the Japanese government fairly quickly to establish where those quarantine horses had come from and whether any of the horses stabled there had in fact already come down with the disease.

This is not to excuse the fact that this disease has escaped from Eastern Creek. We all know that is the case and there has been a breakdown of quarantine at the Australian end. We also have to look at the protocols under which we agree to import and export permits of live animals around the world to make sure that we have immediate notification the minute there is a suspicion of a notifiable disease—and not just at the point at which finally it is officially confirmed some 10 days after a domestic announcement. That is not good enough and it is not fair to the international community.

One would wonder whether there will be another move now in the breeding industry to have artificial insemination in the thoroughbred industry. I know it is a very contentious thing to say, but realistically we are dealing with very valuable animals moving around the world. When people assess the losses to the breeding industry because of this outbreak and the likelihood of this continuing they may have to reconsider the definition of what constitutes a thoroughbred horse. That will be a debate for another day. I am aware of the smiles in the chamber about opening a Pandora’s box, and I know that is the case. But if you own a valuable stallion, like those that are being transferred around the world, you would have to be asking yourself at the moment about the risks associated with the international movement of animals in this way.

I do not wish to delay the Senate further, except to say that I support the establishment of the inquiry. I am hopeful that it will be as comprehensive as is required to get to the bottom of how the disease was spread, looking at the existing protocols and the rules which govern the movement and control of the quarantine facilities in Australia. But, as with the comments made by Senator O’Brien, I do not believe it is appropriate that the report, when it is finally completed, simply goes to the minister. I think it is essential that it be tabled in each house of parliament so that the community can read the report in full and therefore be in a better position to both assess the government’s reaction and, I would suggest, assist the government in coming up with improvements to the protocols to make sure that this does not happen again and that we have a better process in place. It is in the government’s interest as well to engage in an open and transparent partnership with the community, particularly the horseracing and breeding community, which will need to be involved in such a response once we get a full investigation and analysis of what has occurred. I too have an amendment asking that once the report goes to the minister it be tabled in the parliament within 14 days of receipt of the report. I look forward to hearing what Justice Callinan finds out during this inquiry and hopefully to seeing some amendments over time to improve the protocols internationally and domestically to try to maintain Australia’s disease-free status.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.