Horse float hits boy, three

By MEGAN GENRICH PAINFUL screams pierced a quiet Bundamba neighbourhood on Saturday evening after a horse float ran over a three-year-old boy.

Just after 5pm, Queensland Ambulance Service officers were called to an Egerton Street home, where a three-year-old boy had been struck by his family's reversing horse float.

He received head and chest injuries from the accident.

Because of the severity of his condition, the Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) helicopter was called to airlift him to the Mater Children's Hospital.

Neighbouring residents rushed from their houses just after 5.

30pm as the helicopter circled the Bundamba house, trying to find a safe place to land.

Unable to locate a suitable spot, the helicopter landed on vacant land 1.3 kilometres away at Rush Court.

For 25 minutes, emergency rescue crews and ambulance officers worked to move the boy safely from the vehicle to the helicopter, before flying out at 6pm.

For that hour, onlookers heard the boy's ear-piercing screams, as two adults, believed to be his parents, stroked his hair and whispered reassuringly to him.

An EMQ spokeswoman said the three-year-old suffered head and chest injuries in the accident and was flown to the children's hospital in South Brisbane.

Yesterday a Mater Children's Hospital spokeswoman said the three-year-old was recovering well in the children's ward.

New laws to protect industry from cost of horse flu

Legislation to better position Australia's horse industry to deal with the cost of future exotic disease outbreaks has been introduced into Federal Parliament at the request of the industry.

It comes as the disease has been officially eradicated from the eastern seaboard, although some protective measures will stay in place.

Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said today that the industry had been seeking for some time the new legislation, which was in the process of being drafted even before the EI outbreak.

The legislation establishes a mechanism for recovering the horse industry's share of the costs of the response to the current equine influenza outbreak, but it does not propose a specific levy at this time.

"The legislation was requested by peak industry organisations to enable industry to fund its share of the cost of responding to any future national emergency disease outbreaks," Mr Burke said.

"I am aware of comments by some parts of the horse industry that the costs of the current EI outbreak should not be recovered under these proposed arrangements before the Parliament.

"The legislation would enable a mechanism for a levy to cover industry's share of the costs of the current outbreak.

"However, future regulation will be required before a levy can be set, which would outline the detail of how future collection arrangements would work."

The Commonwealth Government will continue to fully fund the cost of assistance measures, consistent with guidelines, including Business Assistance Grants, the Commercial Horse Assistance Payment Scheme, the wage supplement and grants for non-profit community groups.

"I have no intention of introducing a levy before receiving the final Callinan Inquiry report," Mr Burke said.

Meanwhile, the NSW Government says it will keep in place its Travelling Horse Statements and compulsory event registrations for some time, even though EI has now been defeated.

NSW deputy chief veterinary officer, Ian Roth, said permits and testing were no longer required for any horse movements within NSW, but it was still necessary to record horse movements as a precautionary measure.

"We are extremely confident the EI virus has burnt out in NSW, but just in case an undetected pocket of disease has evaded our widespread search, we need to ensure horse movements can be traced," Mr Roth said.

"The only requirement throughout NSW is to give prior notice of movements and events. No approval is needed.

"A THS must be carried on the journey when moving horses by vehicle or travelling to a horse event.

"This requirement will continue at least until the end of June."

Horse import crackdown urged

The head of the inquiry into Australia's costly equine influenza outbreak has signalled the need for major changes to the management of horse importation.

Commissioner Ian Callinan's draft document says Sydney Airport needs a special facility for holding suspected infected horses.

He may recommend that all horse imports into Melbourne's Tullamarine airport be stopped unless a proper facility is built there for the transfer of live animals.

He has listed numerous suggestions for upgrades to quarantine facilities at Eastern Creek in New South Wales and Spotswood in Victoria.

The recommendations would include much tighter rules for access to infected horses and major changes to the Government's management of quarantine.

That may include the appointment of an inspector-general and a lead quarantine veterinarian.

The inquiry will take submissions in reply over the next month.

EASTERN CREEK QUARANTINE CENTRE

Was shocked today to be talking to a farrier, his work mates has just been to EASTERN CREEK attending to some horses in quarantine there. We are of the understanding that the only disease break imposed upon the farrier was he had to change clothes before he left the centre. By god what has to happen for the control and the restrictions at the centre to resemble its importance to the bio-security of our nation. Any of the Intensive Livestock Industries of this country could write protocols suitable for the access and restrictions to these facilities. Also while they are at it, they best set the required restrictions that a employee must abide by to hold a job at the site, as there was no mention of down time and the farrier has horses at
home. Shit when will we learn that any risk is to big a risk and these risks do become great cost to more that the Government. In the case of the EI we well know how the little people in the business have had to cope with the high levels of restrictions and increased costs that have been forced upon them. We had met a girl who was working at Eastern Creek post EI outbreak and it was great to hear her complain of all the standards to be met and the access restriction they had to abide by. But it sounds like those standards were short lived. If these facilities are not run correctly and to the highest standards, having strict protocols which are abided by and enforced to the letter we will see this happen again. The worse thing about what we have just been through is these diseases are detectable Farrier to shipment to Australia, and a correctly run and maintained centre in Australia should of been able to contain it.

This is we hope food for thought, and in writing this we hope that people in the horse industry stop and look at the excuses that are offered as being the why it happened. do not let it go at that, but demand how did it get to happen and why is it never going to happen again.

RC

Vic's spring carnival an economic winner

Victoria's Spring Racing Carnival delivered a $540 million boost to the state's economy last year and helped save the national racing industry, state Racing Minister Rob Hulls says.

In a year when the industry was crippled in other states by equine influenza (EI), the Victorian carnival drew strong crowd numbers and spending, he said.

"The uncertainty created by equine influenza had a significant impact on the national racing scene with restrictions on horse movements," Mr Hulls said.

"It was mainly thanks to the efforts of the Victorian racing industry that the national industry has survived and the spring carnival flourished."

The gross economic benefit of the 2007 Spring Racing Carnival to Victoria's economy was $541 million, the second highest on record, Mr Hulls said.

The real gross value added was $229 million, he said.

About 729,000 people attended the 50-day carnival, and Melbourne Cup week attracted its second largest crowd ever with 418,786 people at Flemington.

Racegoers spent more than $23.5 million on fashion, including almost 57,000 hats, more than 16,000 handbags, about 14,000 ties and 769 pairs of gloves, Mr Hulls said.

Attendances were up at country Cup days, by 17 per cent at Moe, seven per cent at Bendigo, more than six per cent at Geelong and 12 per cent at Dunkeld, Mr Hulls said.

The first Australian case of EI was confirmed in August in a stallion awaiting release from Sydney's Eastern Creek quarantine centre after travelling from the northern hemisphere.

NSW was declared free of horse flu last month and Queensland is expected to be declared free of the disease soon.

NSW autumn carnival a 50-day bonanza

The NSW racing and tourism industries have come together to launch a 50-day extravaganza encompassing the autumn racing carnival.

The six major partners - the Australian Jockey Club, Sydney Turf Club, TABCorp, Racing NSW, William Inglis and Sons and Tourism NSW - were all represented at Wednesday's launch where the advertising campaign was unveiled.

The television ad shows horses racing through the streets of Sydney with the slogan "The horses are back".

The Sydney spring carnival was lost due to equine influenza and the autumn represents the first time in 12 months that the best horses in Australia will compete against each other following the lifting of interstate travel restrictions.

The economic benefit to the state in 2007 was almost $1.7 billion with $433 million returned in tax.

Geoff Parmenter is the head of Events NSW, an organisation established by the state government two months ago to identify potential areas of economic benefit.

Events NSW will pour $750,000 into the 50 days of racing which includes the provincial and country areas as well as the Golden Slipper and AJC carnivals.

There will be more than $30 million on offer in racing prizemoney from 116 metropolitan and regional race meetings.

In addition it is estimated that women who attend the carnival will purchase more than 6,000 hats and 8,000 pairs of shoes.

EI means no horses for Cooma Show

The south-east New South Wales agricultural show circuit continues to struggle in the aftermath of the horse flu outbreak.

Despite the all-clear being given on equine influenza (EI) and the lifting of bans on horse transport, the Cooma Show will be forced to go ahead on Saturday without horses.

However, the Cooma Show Society's entertainment organiser, Gail Eastaway, says there will still be plenty of attractions.

"Cooma won't have horses. We had to make that decision some months ago when EI was still at its worst so we had to unfortunately make a very hard decision not to have horses," she said.

Equestrian contests return to NSW

Competitive equestrian events will return to New South Wales next month for the first time since the eradication of equine influenza.

The Return of the Horse series will be the country's biggest equestrian event since the Sydney Olympics.

Olympian Vicki Roycroft says it is hoped the event will help the Australian equestrian team prepare for the Beijing Olympics but she says the flu outbreak has hurt the team's chances of winning a medal.

"Don't give up on us either," she said.

"I'm one of these people who seem to thrive a bit on adversity and I know most of my team mates are bit like that too.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I just hope that we can get through this."

The State Government has provided $300,000 to help the equestrian industry recover.

Horse import crackdown urged

The head of the inquiry into Australia's costly equine influenza outbreak has signalled the need for major changes to the management of horse importation.

Commissioner Ian Callinan's draft document says Sydney Airport needs a special facility for holding suspected infected horses.

He may recommend that all horse imports into Melbourne's Tullamarine airport be stopped unless a proper facility is built there for the transfer of live animals.

He has listed numerous suggestions for upgrades to quarantine facilities at Eastern Creek in New South Wales and Spotswood in Victoria.

The recommendations would include much tighter rules for access to infected horses and major changes to the Government's management of quarantine.

That may include the appointment of an inspector-general and a lead quarantine veterinarian.

The inquiry will take submissions in reply over the next month.