❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses the process for transporting horses from states affected by equine influenza, specifically inquiring about directions given to transporters entering Western Australia and alignment with the Ausvetplan. The Minister confirms adherence to national protocols and highlights WA's stringent quarantine measures.
AnsweredQoN 672Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
EQUINE INFLUENZA
The recent outbreak of equine influenza in the eastern states seriously affected the harness and thoroughbred racing industries and the equestrian industry. I understand that when such an emergency arises, procedures and processes are prescribed under the Ausvetplan program, which includes the transportation and movement of all horses in Australia. (1) What is the process applicable to the transportation of horses from a state in which equine influenza has been identified and announced? (2) Did the Department of Agriculture and Food give a direction to a transporter of a number of horses to Western Australia from the affected state during this time to continue to their destination? (3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE
The recent outbreak of equine influenza in the eastern states seriously affected the harness and thoroughbred racing industries and the equestrian industry. I understand that when such an emergency arises, procedures and processes are prescribed under the Ausvetplan program, which includes the transportation and movement of all horses in Australia. (1) What is the process applicable to the transportation of horses from a state in which equine influenza has been identified and announced? (2) Did the Department of Agriculture and Food give a direction to a transporter of a number of horses to Western Australia from the affected state during this time to continue to their destination? (3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(1) What is the process applicable to the transportation of horses from a state in which equine influenza has been identified and announced? (2) Did the Department of Agriculture and Food give a direction to a transporter of a number of horses to Western Australia from the affected state during this time to continue to their destination? (3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(2) Did the Department of Agriculture and Food give a direction to a transporter of a number of horses to Western Australia from the affected state during this time to continue to their destination? (3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(1) What is the process applicable to the transportation of horses from a state in which equine influenza has been identified and announced? (2) Did the Department of Agriculture and Food give a direction to a transporter of a number of horses to Western Australia from the affected state during this time to continue to their destination? (3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(2) Did the Department of Agriculture and Food give a direction to a transporter of a number of horses to Western Australia from the affected state during this time to continue to their destination? (3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(3) Is this required practice under the Ausvetplan? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
(1)-(3) The Ausvetplan is a protocol established under national agreement between the commonwealth and the states. The governing body in all decisions in relation to animal disease response is the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease - CCEAD - the head of which is the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer. The protocol established a number of general, and then specific response criteria and directions. Those directions, where they are specific, are the result of the CCEAD’s assessment, under the Ausvetplan, of the particular emergency. One of the things that the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer had to determine in putting together the requirements for the Ausvetplan in relation to the equine influenza incident, was that a number of horses were known to be in transit, intrastate and interstate, that had been at least in the jurisdiction of the affected area, which at that stage was metropolitan Sydney and New South Wales. It later included Queensland. The requirement is that horses in transit must proceed directly to their place of destination, and once there be placed in quarantine. Therefore, the answer to both (2) and (3) is yes. That is the direction that the Department of Agriculture and Food gave, consistent with the national protocols. In Western Australia, however, that protocol was already in place, but for another reason. I need to explain just what happens in Western Australia, with or without the CCEAD requirements specific to this case. All horses entering Western Australia - WA is probably the only the state in which these arrangements are in place - must enter through either the checkpoint at Eucla on the Eyre Highway, or the checkpoint on the Victoria River-Kununurra border crossing between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When any vehicle containing any animal - not just horses - enters the state of Western Australia, the owner of the animal is directed to a quarantine inspection facility. The QIF is currently located at Parkston in Kalgoorlie, although we are constructing new yards at Boulder, and also at Kununurra. The animal is then inspected for weeds, and for its general health characteristics. The animal is not required to be inspected by a veterinarian. A permit is then issued for that animal, stating the precise location to which the animal is required to proceed directly. Assuming the animal has come from a liver fluke area - most of the eastern states is a liver fluke area - the animal is then placed in quarantine for a period of between 90 and 100 days. This does not apply to performance horses that are coming into the state for just a one-race program. However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
However, another set of specific requirements does apply to those horses, including collecting all their bodily waste, for example, and disposing of it. As a result of those standing requirements, we knew exactly where every horse was. There has been a lot of discussion about the 19 horses involved in the equine influenza case. In fact, the Department of Agriculture and Food had to track down 82 owners and trace the whereabouts of a total of 89 horses that had come out of the affected area in the three-week period leading up to the discovery of the virus. Not all those 89 horses were tested. Only the 19 horses to which I have referred were actually laboratory tested; however, the others were subject to monitoring and isolation in each case. It was partly as a result of the strong quarantine requirements that are in place in this state that we were able to track down the owners and the horses so quickly.
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