EI inquiry chief considers findings

The head of the inquiry into Australia's equine influenza outbreak has retired to consider his findings.

There are calls for an overhaul of the government run quarantine system in relation to horses and the appointment of an inspector general.

Former High Court judge Ian Callinan has taken evidence from more than 200 witnesses over the past five months, including senior public servants from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) which has come under fire for its unwieldy management structure and lack of clear lines of responsibility.

The EI outbreak in August shut the multi-million dollar racing industry down in NSW and Queensland for four months, curtailed the breeding season and resulted in unprecedented restrictions in horse movement.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Tony Meagher, and lawyers for the parties appearing, agree the likely source of the virus was a shipment of horses which arrived from Japan on August 8.

The shipment included mares and stallions, some of which were offloaded in Melbourne before the remaining horses travelled to Sydney and subsequently the Eastern Creek quarantine station from where it escaped into the general horse population.

Investigations by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and the inquiry have failed to pinpoint exactly how that happened but the consensus is that the system failed.

Coolmore stallion Encosta De Lago became sick in Eastern Creek with the likely source either Snitzel or Rock Of Gibraltar who both travelled on the plane from Japan.

The spread of EI has been traced to a horse show at Maitland on the weekend of August 19 but the link between that event and Eastern Creek has not been established.

Callinan has expressed his frustrations throughout the inquiry when trying to come to terms with the multi layers of AQIS management and lack of auditing systems.

The first of his draft recommendations was that an external auditor to be known as the office of the inspector general be appointed with duties to include the inspection of both pre-export and post-arrival quarantine centres.

"In some ways, it does look a little radical, but there is the aspect of restoration of public confidence; there is the aspect of problems within the department," the recommendation said.

"In a sense, one might have expected Biosecurity to have done a lot of this, but it didn't do it, if AQIS itself hadn't done it."

He also called for a separate section within AQIS relating specifically to horse importation saying the current system was over-elaborate and resulted in an absence of accountability and responsibility for, and compliance with, procedures concerning the importation of horses.

Among those to give evidence at the inquiry were grooms, farriers and veterinary surgeons who attended the overseas stallions at Eastern Creek.

Most said they were aware of protocols regarding the handling of horses at the station but because the rules were not always enforced, they were not always followed.

Retrospective tests on the horses which were offloaded in Melbourne and sent to Victoria's Spotswood station, showed they had developed EI anti-bodies but the virus was contained within the centre.

The parties to make submissions to the inquiry included the states of NSW and Queensland, Darley and Coolmore Studs, International Racehorse Transport, the Australian Horse Industry Council, the Australian Veterinary Association, Randwick Equine Centre, the Equestrian Federation of Australia and the Australian Racing Board.

The commissioner is required to provide his report by April 25.