Handling of horse flu was a `disgrace'
21.06.2008
HORSE breeders and racing industry identities have accused former federal agriculture minister and now racing industry lobbyist Peter McGauran of not acting quickly enough to stop the spread of equine influenza into Queensland last year.
Industry figures are critical of the Callinan report -- chaired by retired High Court judge Ian Callinan QC and tabled to parliament last week -- for having narrow guidelines that excluded an investigation of the political handling of the outbreak, and the part played by the big breeders and owners in getting what many interpreted as favourable treatment.
Players outside the thoroughbred industry insist the role played by Mr McGauran, who has taken up a position as chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia after leaving parliament, needs rigorous examination.
There is an abundance of anecdotal evidence that no serious effort was made to ensure that horses were not moved throughout NSW and over the Queensland border after the disease was first detected in NSW on Friday, August 24.
Mr McGauran denies all allegations.
The strongest condemnation
comes from Queensland Performance and Pleasure Horse Association president Peter Toft, representing 100,000 horse-owners, who said the handling of the EI crisis was a disgrace that should never be allowed to recur.
Mr Toft had 25 Arabian endurance horses ready to export to Dubai when the virus struck. The consignment has only recently been sent.
``Mr Callinan should be authorised to now investigate how EI was dealt with and the effects it had on the horse industry as a whole in this country,'' Mr Toft said yesterday.
``The terms of reference he operated under were much too narrow. Our main interest now is to ensure that the correct procedures and protocols are adopted to ensure this catastrophe never strikes again in Australia.
``In particular, the role of ministers including Peter McGauran should be investigated in great detail.''
Queensland Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherrin said Mr McGauran announced testing for EI was taking place at the Eastern Creek quarantine facility in western Sydney three days before a big performance horse carnival was due to be held at Warwick in Queensland.
The event went ahead, and horses from NSW that had been in contact with infected horses attended, spreading the virus.
What is at issue is when Mr McGauran knew the virus had escaped Eastern Creek and when the signal to shut down meetings and breeding was sent out. It is this process that Mr McGauran's critics argue should have been covered by the Callinan inquiry.
Last year's outbreak of EI was eventually tracked to five mares airlifted from Japan and spread from the Eastern Creek Quarantine station to horses in NSW and Queensland. The ongoing effects were devastating to the industry, leading to the cancellation of the Sydney Spring Carnival and the Queensland Summer Carnival and almost stopping the running of the 2007 Melbourne Cup. In NSW alone, 193 thoroughbred race meetings were cancelled and 250 trotting and pacing events were stopped. The suspension of breeding and exports resulted in losses of $1 billion.
Mr McGauran has hit back at criticism over his role, claiming Queensland's Department of Primary Industries did not respond adequately to the outbreak.
``I would have to check the dates now, but my recollection is that the fault lay with the Queensland DPI, not me,'' Mr McGauran told The Weekend Australian.
``The Queensland Opposition made a big thing of this in the parliament.
``My recollection is that the machinery of the consultative committee spread the word on the Friday night (August 24) -- it was their responsibility to do so. As minister I was informed of the outbreak on the Friday. The joint committee including the chief vets in each state and the head of the DPI in each was notified.
``It was an unsubstantiated charge against me at the time, and it is unsubstantiated now.''
Mr Mulherrin has told The Weekend Australian that if he or his department had been told the virus had escaped the quarantine facility in Sydney earlier than Saturday morning, August 25, a freeze could have been put on the movement of horses and their handlers and, in all likelihood, Queensland would have remained disease-free.
``There was a general release from Mr McGauran on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 that a horse or horses at Eastern were suspected of having equine influenza,'' Mr Mulherrin said. ``That did not cause undue concern. Our clear understanding was that it had been detected in the quarantine centre and was being dealt with. What we were not told in the next couple of days was that it had escaped the facility.''
He said his chief veterinary officer was told about 6am on the Saturday by his NSW counterpart that horses in Centennial Park Equestrian Centre in Sydney had tested positive to EI.
``My chief vet began receiving reports of horses at Morgan Park, Warwick, showing mild symptoms late morning of Saturday, August 25, 2007 and dispatched a vet to investigate,'' he said. ``Tests were taken and at 7am the next day, confirmation was received of the presence of EI in Queensland. I had to almost beg McGauran to convene a meeting of our chief vets on Saturday afternoon to address this issue as he wanted to hold it over until the Monday -- two days later.
``If we had been told on the Thursday or even Friday of confirmed diagnoses in Sydney, we could have taken earlier action on the Warwick event. The standstill order we issued in Queensland took effect from 11.30am on Sunday, August 26, 2007 -- less than 24 hours after a voluntary standstill was called and only a few hours after a confirmation of EI in Queensland.''
Criticisms have also been levelled against Mr McGauran's decision to over-ride Mr Mulherrin and NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald by ordering that Victoria be allocated a significant proportion of the EI vaccine.
Mr McGauran said the action was to protect Victorian racing. ``I had no power to over-ride state ministers but I put a point of view which prevailed,'' he said.
