David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Will the minister update the House on the latest developments at the Eastern Creek quarantine station?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for his question. I am sure all members of the House are very mindful of the devastation caused 12 months ago by the outbreak of EI. There have been different estimates of the total cost to industry. The figure of $1 billion is often quoted. It is probably fair to say that we will never know the full extent of the cost of that outbreak. Therefore we can understand the anxiety felt by many of those involved with the horse industry with the reports overnight—and more information has come out today—that, of the 74 horses in quarantine at the Eastern Creek quarantine station, one horse has tested positive for equine influenza. An immediate retest on the same sample was done last night, and on the retest it came back negative.

Each horse is tested some five times—twice on pre-export and three times on arrival in Australia. This horse had already passed the first four tests, with negative findings. The fifth one came through with a positive finding and there was an immediate retest, which again came out negative. As an extra precaution to make sure that there is no equine influenza within the quarantine station, each of the 74 horses within the station has now had two samples taken, and they are being sent to two separate labs—the Camden lab and the Geelong lab. Those tests will be done independently, and in the next few days we will know whether or not the negative tests we have had in every other instance are confirmed by the independent sampling.

Under the new quarantine arrangements for imported horses, each horse has these extra tests done—two pre-export and three post-arrival. The Eastern Creek quarantine station was already in lockdown and remains so. No horses will be released until the test results confirm that they are indeed free from equine influenza. Quarantine measures at Eastern Creek have been strengthened since last year’s outbreak to include 24-hour security, close monitoring and strict enforcement of quarantine procedures. Revised import conditions also now enforce a strict vaccination requirement for horses entering pre-export quarantine facilities.

On 12 June this year I released the government’s response to the inquiry by Commissioner Ian Callinan AC into the outbreak. The government accepted every single one of the 38 recommendations to strengthen our quarantine measures for imported horses. These recommendations are being implemented with the cooperation of the horse industry, importers, airports, airlines and freight handlers. This week I met with internationally recognised quarantine expert Dr Kevin Dunne, who has been appointed interim Inspector-General of Horse Importation by the government. A little over two hours ago I spoke with him on the phone and he was on-site out at Eastern Creek.

The government takes Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity challenges seriously. We need to do all we can to ensure all Australians and other nations have confidence in the integrity of our systems and we act quickly and efficiently when facing challenges like those at Eastern Creek. As we head towards this year’s spring racing carnivals, I acknowledge that the tougher quarantine measures do create some inconvenience for industry. But they also place Australia and the horse industry in a much stronger position to withstand threats to our biosecurity.