EI Inquiry Lawyers Slam AQIS

The Callinan Inquiry into the equine influenza outbreak "has been urged to deliver a damning assessment of the Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service, a finding that would increase the likelihood of a class action to recover losses running into hundreds of millions of dollars," reported The Australian Financial Review. The arguments put by counsel assisting the inquiry (Tony Meagher, Alister Henskens & Rob Anderson) in a 191-page closing submission "will also result in extra scrutiny of a broader federal review of quarantine & biosecurity systems due by the end of July".