Horse owners to sue over flu

A Queensland law firm is preparing to launch a multi-million dollar class action against the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) over the horse flu outbreak.

More than 300 horse owners have already registered their interest in joining a class action with Gold Coast-based law firm Atwood Marshall.
Lawyer Jeff Garrett said the action could not be launched until the findings of an independent inquiry into last year's equine influenza (EI) outbreak are tabled in federal parliament.
However, after hearing evidence presented to the inquiry that problems at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station were to blame for the outbreak, he expected the AQIS to be the subject of any action.
"If the findings come out as we expect, I am sure that not long after that we are probably going to have a number of court actions which will proceed," Mr Garrett said.
"If you look at the submissions of counsel assisting the inquiry, if they are accepted or even 50 per cent of them are accepted, it's hard to imagine that AQIS are not going to be in the firing line."
The total damages claim is yet to be determined but Mr Garrett estimated it could total tens of millions of dollars.
The outbreak crippled the thoroughbred industry in Queensland and NSW and resulted in losses estimated at more than $1 billion.
Mr Garrett said he expected thousands more horse owners to join the action once the findings were made public.
He said the outbreak had a "huge" impact on many of his clients.
"There's been people who have been completely devastated by it - right across the board there's just been complete devastation and widespread losses," Mr Garrett said.