ARB takes aim

SYDNEY - Two days before the Callinan Inquiry into how Equine Influenza entered Australia resumes, the Australian Racing Board (ARB) has taken aim at former Federal Agriculture Minister Warren Truss.

Truss has said previously the ARB was "hypocritical on quarantine' because it asked him to overturn a ban on horses travelling from the United Kingdom in 2001.

“The claim of hypocrisy is unfounded and we reject it outright, ARB chairman Bob Pearson said in a statement today.

"What we asked for in 2001 was not a relaxation of quarantine measures but for a rational science-based decision be made and for quarantine policy to be applied consistently,” he said.

“The correspondence sent to the then Minister in 2001 tells the story clearly and it bears no resemblance to the claims made by Mr Truss over the weekend," he said.

"The subsequent decision by AQIS and biosecurity to overturn the ban puts it beyond any shadow of doubt that the ARB was actually the body responsible for calling for the Government to implement good quarantine policy ... I call on Mr Truss to withdraw his totally unfounded claims.”

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