Inquiry into Managing Animal and Plant Diseases

This inquiry is a completed Legislative Assembly inquiry conducted by the Public Accounts Committee.

On 29 March 2006, the Committee resolved to conduct a follow-up inquiry on the Auditor-General’s reports, NSW Agriculture: Managing Animal Disease Emergencies and Implementing the Ovine Johne’s Disease Program as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into the management of animal and plant diseases.

The Committee will investigate how well the government and industry are equipped to deal with emergency pest and disease situations. It will also investigate how well endemic diseases such as Ovine Johne’s Disease are managed.

New South Wales has experienced minor occurrences of animal diseases in recent years, with significant localised impact. For example:

· A virulent Newcastle disease outbreak at Mangrove Mountain (near Gosford) in 1999 resulted in the slaughter of almost 2 million poultry
· Outbreaks of avian influenza at Tamworth in 1997 caused the quarantining of properties for up to six months.

More recently Avian Influenza (‘Bird Flu’), and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (Mad Cow Disease) have decimated overseas livestock industries.

Responsibilities for management of animal diseases are shared between Commonwealth and state governments. The states are responsible for awareness of risks, farm biosecurity (eg introduction of animals, feed sources, water quality and screening of sheds) and surveillance of likely sources of disease.

Although submissions were requested by Friday 12 May 2006, if you are still interested in making a submission, please contact the secretariat.

Relevant Background Information.
Information about the Department of Primary Industries can be forwarded:
to www.dpi.nsw.gov.au

Timeline

Referred: 29 Mar 2006
» Call for submissions: 7 Apr 2006
» Submissions close: 12 May 2006
» Final Report Published: 23 Nov 2006

Reports and Government Responses

Date	Name of Document
23/11/2006	Managing Animal and Plant Diseases (Final Report)

Hearings and Transcripts

Date	Name of Document
08/08/2006	Public Hearing
09/08/2006	Public Hearing

Submissions

View the public submission(s) published by the committee in relation to this inquiry.

The closing date for submissions was 12 May 2006

Contact Us

This is a completed inquiry. The contacts below are historical only.

Primary contact: Vicki Buchbach, phone (02) 9230 2363, pac@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Committee Manager: Vicki Buchbach, phone (02) 9230 2363, Vicki.Buchbach@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Senior Committee Officer: Jackie Ohlin, phone (02) 9230 2354, Jackie.Ohlin@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Committee Officer: Simon Kennedy, phone (02) 9230 2216, simon.kennedy@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Assistant Committee Officer: Mohini Mehta, phone (02) 9230 2631, Mohini.Mehta@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Address for written correspondence:
The Committee Manager
Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
Parliament House
Macquarie St
Sydney NSW 2000
Fax: (02) 9230 2831 or (02) 9230 3052

Inquiry Terms of Reference

Resolution Passed 29 March 2006, Minute No.5.

Inquiry Terms of Reference

The Committee will examine:

1. Implementation of the reports’ recommendations and their relevance under current administrative arrangements.

2. The state’s preparedness to manage animal and plant disease emergencies, particularly with respect to:

· Risk based planning and disease surveillance;
· The effectiveness of immediate response mechanisms;
· Intergovernmental cooperation and the state’s compliance with national standards; and
· Cost sharing arrangements between industry and Government.

3. The effectiveness and efficiency of the management of endemic diseases, including the roles of government and industry.

4. Any other related matters.

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