Questions arising from the Ulverstone meeting on 26 October - Tasmania

Around 150 people attended the horse flu information meeting at Ulverstone on Friday 26 October.

Most of the questions raised were addressed on the night, but a few had to taken away for a later answer. Some of these questions related to the biosecurity requirement in place at the time that a vet must be present to check horses onto the event site where there were 10 or more horses at the event. The requirement to have a vet onsite has since been replaced with
a requirement that a vet or an event official check that horses entering the site appear healthy.

Is it possible to station Quarantine Tasmania officers at the Melbourne docks and at the interstate airports so that the checking of people and luggage for EI risk takes place “over there” rather than in Tasmania?

Quarantine Tasmania has looked into this idea many times prior to the EI outbreak and again since. Each time it has come up against the same problem – that Tasmania’s special quarantine restrictions are empowered by Tasmanian law and there are practical difficulties in applying that law interstate. In short, Quarantine Tasmania officers can only “advise” travellers in other states whereas they have certain powers at the Tasmanian airports and seaports. It’s more efficient for them to do their job here in Tasmania where they can use their powers if necessary.

Could the airlines and the TT Line be asked to quiz travellers about recent contact with horses etc when they check in at interstate airports, seaports and the information forwarded to Quarantine Tasmania?

People can, in effect, check themselves in for their flights these days, so it wouldn’t be particularly effective. The TT Line has introduced a pre-recorded message about travellers needing to declare if they’ve had recent contact with a mainland horse and that message is played to travellers in the areas where they assemble for disembarking. Getting the airlines to change the quarantine messages they broadcast to passengers as the plane lands is a difficult process that has to happen at the national level.
Quarantine Tasmania research indicates that few people actually listen to these messages and it is better that quarantine officers do the job themselves as the inbound passengers enter the airport terminal.

Could the efforts of Quarantine Tasmania be stepped up in relation to the risk of horse gear bringing the EI virus into Tasmania ?

While it is unrealistic to expect that any quarantine barrier can be 100% effective in detecting risks, Quarantine Tasmania has made around 30 seizures of horse gear during the current EI alert. The concerns raised at the Ulverstone meeting have been relayed to Quarantine Tasmania and it is continually briefing its frontline staff on the need to check inbound travellers. Anyone in the Tasmanian horse community that knows of any person entering the State without being asked whether they have had
recent contact with horses or have any horse gear in their luggage, should report to us the flight details or other information that would help us identify which quarantine officers were on duty at the time.
People at the Ulverstone meeting suggested the EI alert posters at the airports and seaports could be larger – that has happened. And agreement has been reached with the Melbourne Ports Corporation to display A1-size posters strategically at the Spirit terminal in Melbourne.

Vaccination.
There were several questions about vaccination and not all could
be answered at the Ulverstone meeting.

The vaccination policy is still being worked out by the Minister in close consultation with the racing codes and the Equestrian Federation of Tasmania. Details of the vaccination policy will be posted on this website as soon as they are available.