Horse Disease Response Levy Bill

Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke

Nicola Turner, EFA National Office, Friday, 22 February 2008

Yesterday, Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke introduced a Horse Disease Response Levy Bill to the House of Representatives. This legislation is required so that the horse industry can fund its share of obligations in responding to a national emergency disease outbreak affecting the industry.

Under the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA), the Commonwealth has agreed to underwrite an industry’s share of nationally agreed emergency response programs and for these costs to be recovered, with the industry’s agreement, through a statutory levy.

Therefore, depending on the findings of the Callinan inquiry, the levy may be imposed to enable the industry to repay its share of the debt incurred from the Equine Influenza crisis.

Debate will take place at the next Parliamentary sittings in March.

“If the levy is implemented, it will feel like a ‘double-whammy’ to many horse owners”, said EFA CEO Franz Venhaus. “Should the Callinan Inquiry find that the Commonwealth Government did not maintain adequate measures to prevent an outbreak of Equine Influenza, we would expect the Government to pay for the total cost of fighting it.”

He also advised that there was currently a review taking place that may see the re-categorisation of Equine Influenza under EADRA to a higher category. The present category obligates the horse industry to pay for 80 per cent of the cost. “It is obvious that the people who determined this level of cost-sharing vastly underestimated the impact the outbreak has had on the industry and the significant national socio-economic consequences generally”, he said.

Ryan Wood Update - Good News!

Thursday, 21 February 2008

Good news! Ryan will be discharged from hospital tomorrow. He has been operated on for his substantial facial injuries and is well enough to leave the hospital. Ryan will share an apartment with Claudia Graham and Dom Schramm, his mother will arrive in Florida today. More details after I have spoken to his mother. Judy Fasher

Wild horse killed by car, fourth in a month

A captive przewalskii horse, locally known as Junggar or Mongolian wild horse, was killed by a vehicle in Xinjiang on September 8, the fourth death of the rare animal in a month, China News Agency reported.

The horse, a mature male and the leader of a herd of 11, was knocked down by a car when it galloped across the National Road 216 in Xinjiang. The lack of decelerating belts and special passes for horses was blamed.

Without the protection of the leader, the lives of the other 10 horses were now under danger, said Cao Jie, director of Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Research Center.

Sixty wild horses, in 6 heads, now inhabit in the Kalamely National Natural Reserve.

Dubbed as living fossil, Captive przewalskii horses are under the State-level protection. They went extinct in the 1970s in China and were introduced from abroad in the 1980s.

((tianshannet) ) www.aboutxinjiang.com

Loose Horse Killed After Van Hits It

A man was injured early Thursday morning after his van collided with a horse that had gotten loose from a Lexington farm, killing the animal.
The incident happened at about 2 a.m. along Versailles Road near Keeneland and the Blue Grass Airport. Police say the van slammed into a horse after that animal and three others escaped from a nearby farm.
The horse died at the scene, and the driver was taken to UK with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. Outbound Versailles Road was shut down for about an hour and a half, but has since re-opened.
The other three horses were not hurt and were re-captured.

www.msnbc.msn.com

Horse industry faces flu levy

The equine influenza outbreak in Australia appears to be over, the Rudd government says.

Now the horse industry will have to start helping to pay the cost of eradication.

Agriculture Minister Tony Burke told parliament today that between the disease being detected last August and the last confirmed case in late December, 6627 NSW and 3569 Queensland properties had been affected.

“All of these cases now appear to have been resolved,” Mr Burke said.

“It is expected that eradication may be achieved by mid-March and that it will be possible to demonstrate in a few months provisional proof of freedom from the disease.”

Mr Burke was introducing legislation to impose a levy on the horse industry to help pay for the costs of battling the damaging outbreak.

The levy will be paid when a horse is registered, but the amount won't be set until the full cost of the response is known.

Mr Burke said most livestock industries had agreed to contribute to the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA).

But the horse industry hadn't signed up because of disagreements over how to collect the levy.

“After extensive consultation the industry has agreed that it was best to impose it at the point of horse registration,” Mr Burke said.

The levy would be applied to the initial registration with recognised breed societies and performance organisations.

The levy will be applied only once to each horse and will not be retrospective, he said.

Debate was adjourned.

www.thewest.com.au

Punter Suing UK Bookie On Bail For Gun & Drug Charges

Friday Odd Spot:

In a bizarre twist to a court case currently hogging English headlines, police confirmed "compulsive gambler" Graham Calvert, who is suing booking firm William Hill for more than £2 million (A$4.2m) in the High Court, is on bail for firearms & drugs charges," revealed racingpost.co.uk. Former greyhound trainer Calvert, 28, "is demanding Britain's largest bookmaker compensate him for the loss of not only his money, but also his wife, health & livelihood". Calvert claims William Hill allowed him to carry on punting after he asked them to stop accepting his bets under its "self-exclusion policy". His lawyer Anneliese Day told Mr Justice Briggs that Calvert was "hoping to establish in law for the first time that bookmakers owe a duty of care in his circumstances". She said the scale of her client's gambling was "staggering" & at the height of his addiction he placed "huge multiple bets in the space of a few hours": for example, he lost £347,000 (A$730,000) "in 1 bet alone when backing the US to win the Ryder Cup 2 years ago".

Another 740,000 Hectares In NSW EI-Free

NSW Minister For Primary Industries Ian Macdonald announced his state's equine influenza-free White Zone was extended yesterday by a further 740,000 hectares "significantly easing movement restrictions for thousands of horses". The change "affects most of the Illawarra, Southern Highlands, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Putty & central tablelands districts" (previously in the Amber Zone). Macdonald noted: "This is another major step towards progressing NSW to total freedom from EI in March. It means more than 95% of NSW is now in the White Zone. The only requirement for moving horses within the White Zone is that a Travelling Horse Statement must be completed before the journey & carried during the journey. Providing no new infections are discovered, I'm confident all of NSW will very soon be confirmed EI-free, allowing horses to move anywhere in NSW if they have a THS."

More women joining jillaroo ranks

The nation's largest pastoral company says it is noticing more women coming forward wanting to join its ranks as jillaroos and stock workers.
The Australian Agricultural Company operates the Aronui feedlot near Dalby and Wyaralah near Surat.
It is inducting 50 more staff in Longreach this week.
Spokesman David Connelly says the company has found young women care for animals and machinery exceptionally well.
"I've asked these young people ... some of these young ladies tell me that MacLeod's Daughters did it for them surprisingly enough, but I think it's more that these young women are more empowered, they want to get out and do some of the exciting things that some of the young men have done and are doing and there's no reason they can't," he said.

"We've got all female mustering camps now and all female crews on our feedlots."

Horse owners face hefty flu bill

Horse owners could be hit with a bill for horse flu of $100 per animal.
The Federal Government this week announced the industry would have to start paying for the cost of the outbreak.
The Equestrian Federation of Australia is hoping to have equine influenza re-categorised as a more serious disease, so that industry isn't liable to pay as much in cost recovery.
EFA chief executive Franz Venhaus hopes the current inquiry into how the outbreak was managed will clear the industry of any blame.
"If that inquiry finds that the Federal Government failed to take adequate measures to protect the horse population from an outbreak, then it would really be inappropriate and inequitable for the industry itself to bear the cost", he says.
"It should be borne by the Federal Government".

The beautiful race

RITZY St Moritz has an enviable reputation as a chic ski resort with sophisticated hotels, gourmet restaurants and a glittering social scene.

In winter it's all skiing, skiing, a bit more skiing and lots of serious partying but for the first three Sundays in February – ever since 1907 – Europe's social elite abandon the pistes to mingle where the White Turf flies.
On frozen Lake St Moritz, set against a magnificent backdrop of the Engadine Alps, the annual White Turf St Moritz horse races attract about 30,000 spectators to a program of gallops, trots and skijoering, an event exclusive to White Turf in which men on skis are dragged along a 2700m track by sprinting, riderless thoroughbreds.
It all began again last Sunday in beautiful sunny weather. In the middle of the iced-over Lake St Moritz were grandstands, an elegant tent city covering 130,000sq m, a horse paddock and a large oval race circuit. It was all held up by ice a perilous 80cm thick covered with a few centimetres of snow.
In and around the hospitality tents were 11,000 beautiful people, neck-to-ankle fur coats, babies in designer strollers, Russian billionaires attended by impossibly beautiful women, tinkling flutes of champagne and galaxies of diamonds glistening in a place where the sun shines an average 322 days a year.
St Moritz is the only place name anywhere to have trademark protection, and the sun motif the town still uses on its logo was registered in 1937.
There may have been a sprinkling of royals strutting their stuff; there could have been some ageing rock stars and sundry celebrities (Liz Hurley, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Lester Piggott and Britt Ekland are regulars) but beneath the fur hats and stylish beanies and behind the sparkling sunnies it was difficult to be sure. But there was an orchestra and a grand piano to entertain the milling cream of the social crop.
And there were horses, too. Not just any old horses, mind, these were some of Europe's finest thoroughbreds – just as much on show as the spectators – and brought from across Europe and the UK by owners attracted by the prize money of more than $400,000.
Skeletal chariots
As the rich sipped champagne and munched on oysters, the first gallop (flat race) on the six-race card, over 1100m, got under way on time at 12.45pm.
Ten horses thundered around the first bend, eyes blazing, their jockeys clad in bright tunics and plastic motocross-style face masks to protect against the blizzard of ice and snow kicked up by the leaders.
Unlike the raucous racegoers that populate Aussie racetracks, from this crowd came nary a murmur.
Oh no. In sophisticated St Moritz that sort of vulgarity would simply not be tolerated and besides, the crowd seemed to be far more focused on what everyone else was wearing and who was with whom; as if it were more an excuse for a social gathering than the serious race meeting that it was. White Turf in fact is one of the most important racing fixtures on the European calendar.
The first trotting event was much like any other, except the gigs were reclining, skeletal chariots balanced precariously on skinny aluminium runners.
Again it was a fast-paced event run in almost complete silence, with the plush hotels and stately chalets of Europe's oldest ski resort looming high in the background, cosy places where a round of four beers could lighten your credit card by up to $110.

Click here to see the Amazing Photo's!

Aussies in Olympic drug test blitz

AUSTRALIA threw down the gauntlet to Olympic drug cheats today, with a tough new regime.

The new measures mean a doper will have to beat not one but every test developed during the next eight years.
Every Australian athlete selected for the Beijing Olympics will be drug-tested at least once before they leave for the Games in August.
In a joint program announced yesterday by the Australian Olympic Committee and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority up to 1000 athletes will be drug-tested.
The AOC expects to take about 480 athletes to China when team selection is finalised in July.
Blood and urine samples will also be stored for eight years as a further deterrent to drug cheats.
"This will be a major deterrent," AOC president John Coates said.
"Knowing ASADA can go back and test for performance-enhancing drugs eight years later will make anyone thinking of cheating nervous."
The International Olympi Committee has also ordered a a record 4500 drug tests to be carried out before and during competition in Beijng.

Rough ride looks over for Tabcorp investors

TABCORP boss Elmer Funke Kupper has signalled the end of the "rough ride" for his investors, delivering a better than expected first-half result and revealing that spring's equine influenza had not hurt as much as first thought.

Analysts said that after two years of disappointing performances, Mr Funke Kupper, who replaced sacked chief executive Matthew Slatter in July, had surpassed their low expectations.
Tabcorp shares had their biggest one-day gain since the company listed in 1994, as investors lifted the stock $1.01, or more than 7%, to $14.98.
Tabcorp's normalised earnings before items were down 3.1% to $261.9 million in the six months to December 31, beating the $247 million market consensus estimate.
Tabcorp said operating expenses fell 0.7% to $505 million in the half, compared with an 11.3% rise in the first half of 2007. Underlying expenses for the six months to December 31 rose 2%.
Normalised earnings before interest and tax from the company's four casinos rose 0.4% to $190 million, with the introduction of smoking bans causing gaming machine revenue in NSW to fall 9.7%.
The loss of four of the casinos' biggest players to Chinese gaming haven Macau also hurt, although the high-roller business contributes only about 5% to casino earnings.
In the gaming division — which includes slot machines and Keno in Victoria — earnings were adversely effected by higher taxes, rising 1.6% to $138.7 million.
Earnings in wagering slid 8.9% to $130.8 million after horse flu shut down racing in NSW for four months.
But while the outbreak slashed turnover by $347 million and reduced earnings by $16 million, Mr Funke Kupper said horse flu would cut full-year earnings by $20 million, and not $30 million as previously forecast.
This means Tabcorp, which last year forecast flat earnings growth for fiscal 2008, is expected to report a slight slowdown in growth for the full year.
Tabcorp shareholder Argo Investment's Rob Patterson said the company was doing better than expected.
"But having said that, I thought the outlook statement was a bit subdued," he said. "I'm a bit surprised about the share price. It's what I call a relief rally."
Tabcorp also announced plans to expand further the $300 million refurbishment of its Star City casino in Sydney. He said the company would detail plans later this year.
Tabcorp declared a fully franked dividend of 47¢, payable on April 9.

Horse flu saps Tabcorp earnings

Australian gaming group Tabcorp Holdings said on Thursday first-half profit fell 3%, hit by an outbreak of horse influenza, and said it faced tougher trading conditions. The company's shares advanced 7.2%, or $1.01, to close at $14.98.
Tabcorp said normalised net profit for the six months to Dec. 31 was $261.9 million from $270.3 million a year earlier.
Three analysts on average were expecting a profit of around A$251 million for the company, which owns some of Australia's biggest gambling operations, including Sydney's Star City casino, TAB wagering and Keno games.
Tabcorp said in November that the outbreak of horse influenza in August that disrupted Australian horse racing would cut its pre-tax earnings by about $30 million. It had previously forecast little growth in 2008.

comment on Metro prizemoney increase due to EI

Yeah right Sydney horses get more prize money , why aren't the country horses getting more . After all there was a lot of prize money saved by country race meeting being canceled due to EI as well as Sydney. Sorry silly me I forget country people don't have bills to pay along with training costs etc.
We wouldn't want you to give the country races more prize money . But don't worry us country people know it's only the city racing that counts.