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Ovine Johne's Disease Vaccine

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About this Item
Speakers - Amery Mr Richard; Hodgkinson Ms Katrina; Acting-Speaker (Mr Paul Lynch); Martin Mr Gerard
Business - Matter of Public Importance


    OVINE JOHNE'S DISEASE VACCINE

Page: 3700
    Matter of Public Importance

    Mr AMERY (Mount Druitt—Minister for Agriculture, and Minister for Corrective Services) [4.19 p.m.]: I ask the House to note as a matter of public importance the vaccination and trading options for sheep producers with sheep afflicted with ovine Johne's disease [OJD]. For years OJD has been a contentious issue in rural New South Wales. The issue has been whipped up from time to time by National Party spokesmen, who have called for the program to be disbanded and so on. However, I am pleased to report to the House, as I have done on many occasions in the past, that the OJD control program and the evolution of the various facets of it, which have been developed in close co-operation with national authorities and the sheep industry—both meat and wool—has the great support of the New South Wales industry. Today I will announce a new program the Government has put in place regarding the use of the Gudair ovine Johne's disease vaccine.

    Following the recent registration of the Gudair OJD vaccine, NSW Agriculture has released its new vaccine policy and procedures. The department acknowledges that the program will not be completely deregulated; controls will still be in place for the use of the vaccine, as I indicated to the House some months ago. The new procedures represent a major change in the way vaccine can be used in New South Wales, particularly in the way vaccinated animals can be traded. That has been an important aspect throughout the whole program. It is a matter of major concern, particularly for stud breeders who have been most affected by the detection of OJD on their properties.

    Such a policy change was not possible until all other States agreed to proposed amendments by New South Wales to the national standard definition and rules for the management of OJD in Australia. That agreement was reached in late May, clearing the way for a major overhaul of OJD control measures in all States. The move has been warmly welcomed by all sectors of the New South Wales sheep industry. Sheep producers in the proposed OJD residual and control zones will soon receive an easy-to-read guide detailing their greatly enhanced trading options. Within the next few weeks the guide will be sent to about 11,800 sheep producers to help them select the most appropriate trading strategy to suit individual situations. NSW Agriculture has compiled the guide based on zone, flock status, testing and use of the Gudair vaccine. Under the new policy, producers whose flocks are at risk of OJD infection, but where infection has not been confirmed, will now be able to access vaccine as a preventive measure.

    For example whether they see me at the Royal Easter Show or at country shows—raise the issue of their ability to trade. Measures have been included in the policy to encourage the trade of animals vaccinated as lambs, and to discourage trade of high-risk non-vaccinates from infected properties. Those trade advantages increase as demonstrable prevalence of infection on a property decreases. For example, hypothetical producer C with an infected property has evidence of very low infection levels. Previously he could sell vaccinated stock only to other properties that were under, or would take on, quarantine measures. Under the new policy he can now sell his vaccines anywhere in the high prevalence or the medium prevalence parts of the State—the residual or control zones respectively—with no requirement for quarantine measures on the destination property. That is an important freeing up of the arrangements.

    The policy development most warmly welcomed by stud producers, however, is the access to vaccine for assured properties, which are those properties that have a market assurance program. Previously, the only assurance system available to studs was the Market Assurance Program [SheepMAP], which relies on testing and management to minimise disease risk and provide assurance to clients, but does not permit the use of a vaccine. A new assurance status is now available to studs, the market assurance vaccinating status, which will no doubt be known as MAV. That status relies on management, testing and vaccination to minimise risk, and is a major development for studs in the residual and control zones. Studs that are eligible for this status can sell vaccinated stock into all parts of eastern Australia, something that was unheard of prior to the implementation of the amended national rules and the new New South Wales policy. All of those changes herald a new era of OJD control which will allow producers to put disease control measures in place and get on with their business of producing quality wool and meat for Australian and international consumers.

    I also point out that an international OJD conference held in Spain and attended by 300 scientists and administrators confirmed the need to limit spread of the disease on farm—the approach being taken in New South Wales and nationally. NSW Agriculture sent two staff to the conference to ensure that the ovine Johne’s disease program being developed in New South Wales is based on the latest information and knowledge overseas. The key theme that emerged from this meeting was the worldwide effort to reduce the incidence of Johne’s disease on farm. That is contrary to some views being put forward in rural New South Wales that New South Wales or Australia is somehow going it alone in the management of OJD. The message that has been given to me by our delegates who attended the conference is that there is now a worldwide concern about OJD and a worldwide strategy is either being considered or put in place to control it.

    The farm is regarded as a critical control point, and significant attention needs to be addressed to identifying infection and reducing the shedding of bacteria onto pastures. Early results from Australian vaccine research are encouraging. That research has shown that vaccination has stopped bacterial shedding for nine to 12 months in animals that graze in pastures that have a high level of the ovine Johne’s disease bacteria. That level of protection should be sufficient to dampen down the contamination over time, as successive age groups are vaccinated as lambs until the whole flock is vaccinated. Research is continuing to evaluate the long-term efficacy of this vaccine under Australian conditions. NSW Agriculture will continue to work with the State’s sheep industry to design strategies for the long-term control and management of this disease. There has been tremendous progress with the ovine Johne’s disease program in the past 12 months. The conference in Spain supported the approach undertaken in New South Wales and I firmly believe the national OJD plan is heading in the right direction.

    The program to control OJD has never been set in concrete from day one. It is a program that has evolved after a ministerial council meeting some years ago that gave consideration to a study over a number of years of the options available to control OJD. Through research and continual management, discussions, forums and workshops, we are now working our way through the program to put the best possible policies in place to help the farmers who have been affected in many parts of New South Wales by this disease. The policy change I have announced today will allay, at least to an extent, some of the concerns that farmers have brought to my attention over a number of years. I ask the House to note this important matter of public importance.

    Ms HODGKINSON (Burrinjuck) [4.29 p.m.]: The ministerial statement by the Minister for Agriculture in the form of a matter of public importance is extraordinary. However, I welcome his announcement; it is terrific news. It is good to hear that after three years of being dragged kicking and screaming by producers and me—

    Mr Martin: Oh, come on!

    Ms HODGKINSON: I will continue to go on about this. I have 10 minutes in which to speak, but it is difficult to have a discussion about ovine Johne's disease [OJD] in less than three hours. It was extraordinary to hear the Minister make these comments in the House today. This matter of public importance might be more aptly named "Vaccination and Trading Options for Sheep Producers Afflicted with Mr Amery". For past three years producers in my electorate have travelled down a hard road. On many occasions I have raised ovine Johne's disease in this House. I have placed many questions on notice and I have referred to it many times in private members' statements. I have written numerous letters and made many representations to the Minister. Since 1999 I have called on the Government to relax its draconian OJD control measures. I have consistently called for the freeing-up of trading options for affected producers, financial support for OJD-affected producers, the wider use of the Gudair vaccine and more research into the disease—in other words, vaccinate and trade.

    In the early days I felt like the lone voice crying in the wilderness, but as the impact of the Government's policies was increasingly felt and discontent swelled, even this city-centric, anti-farmer Minister could no longer ignore me. Every time I made representations to the Minister I received patronising or dismissive responses. When I referred to the plight of Graham Privet, the Yass farmer who was hauled before the court and fined $10,000 because he wanted to protect his customers, the Minister, who will remember this well, informed me of his regret but said he had no option but to haul him before the courts. When I asked whether NSW Agriculture had a limited sum of money to dedicate to the case I was told that funding was unlimited and that the department would fight the case to the end. When I actively sought to obtain trading options for Brett Picker from the Rocton Stud, in Bigga, the Minister wrote to me and accused me of trying to spread OJD throughout Australia. For the record, Brett Picker approached me in frustration about the unhelpful attitude of NSW Agriculture when he sought at least some trading options.

    Mr Amery: Yes.

    Ms HODGKINSON: The Minister agrees that he accused me of that. Yet today he is doing exactly the opposite. As a direct result of my conversations with Don Saville from NSW Agriculture, the Pickers were at least able to hold a limited spring sale. It was after I raised these concerns in this House on 5 December that the Minister made his outrageous statement. Let there be no misunderstanding by the Minister: I am passionate about this issue because it affects a large proportion of my electorate. He has misrepresented the farmers of this State again and again in this place.

    Mr Amery: You are not even supported by the industry.

    Ms HODGKINSON: The Minister did not need to send two people from his department to Spain to tell him what farmers in this State have been telling him for the past three years. He has wasted his money. He could have listened to local producers and the local member of Parliament.

    Mr ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Lynch): Order! Members will cease interjecting and the honourable member for Burrinjuck will direct her comments through the Chair.

    Ms HODGKINSON: The Minister could have listened to local producers such as those who pulled him up at the Royal Easter Show. They could have saved him a lot of money. But, no, he does not listen to Australian producers. He has to be told by somebody overseas. His rhetoric has moved from control to on-farm management. I am amazed at the change in his attitude. It almost makes me think that the Minister has decided to join the National Party, which is so unlike the Sussex Street, union-dominated Labor Party. The honourable member for Murrumbidgee referred to the Labor Party conference and the number of disappointed Labor members representing regional and rural Australia whose motions are passed at the conference but not represented in this place. Then there is the council officer in Broken Hill who has decided to leave the Labor Party and join the National Party. But I digress. I welcome the Minister's change of heart. Unfortunately, it has come at a terrible cost. How many properties like Robert Peden's Bullamalita Stud and Ken Clancy's Mount View have been brought to breaking point and beyond by the policies of Minister Amery?

    According to an answer on the notice paper, those policies are kept in a loose-leaf folder because they change so often and, despite claims of wide industry acceptance, the policies were opposed by many in the wool industry. Among the organisations that opposed those now-failed and discredited policies were the Australian Society of Breeders of British Sheep, the Australian Poll Dorset Association, the Australian White Suffolk Association, the New South Wales Stud Marino Breeders Association, the Southern Tablelands Stock Care Group, the New South Wales OJD Action Group, the New South Wales Farmers Wool Committee, the New South Wales Farmers OJD Task Force, the Mudgee OJD Committee, the Yass and District OJD Action Group, the Wool Council of Australia, Gunning Shire Council and the rural lands protection boards of Forbes, Goulburn, Yass and Young. As the Minister will be aware, public meetings about his disastrous policies and their effects on producers have been held in many country towns. Earlier this year a meeting was held in Yass at which John Carter, the Director of the Australian Johne's Alliance, said:
        NSW Agriculture has been both irresponsible and incompetent in dealings with producers caught up in the bureaucratic entanglement of their making.
    I have received many letters of protest about levies placed on producers and I have made representations to the Minister about them. I note that he has left the Chamber because he is so disinterested in this subject.

    Mr Martin: Because you are boring, that's why.

    Ms HODGKINSON: The honourable member for Bathurst should take note of what I am saying about OJD, because it certainly affects the electorate of Bathurst. He has had such disregard for this subject that the producers in his electorate are disappointed in him.

    [Interruption]

    Mr Acting-Speaker, I ask that you call for a little decorum in this House. The Eden Brae Pastoral Company is run by Andrew and Michelle Southwell of Glenflesk, Rye Park, and Kelvin and Maureen Southwell of Eden Brae, Pudman. On behalf of the company Andrew Southwell wrote:
        I am writing this protest letter to accompany the Contribution Fund check. I want it to be made quite clear that this is in no way a voluntary payment and it is quite an insult and a lie to refer to it as such. We are only paying this money as we are being threatened with legal action and an increased charge if we do not pay it.

        We do not agree with many of the actions that are taking place as part of the OJD control programs.

        The use of Zones is discriminatory, being placed in a zone based on geographical location whether your flock has OJD or not, is illogical and I believe contrary to freedom of trade laws in this country. To overcome these zone restrictions requires sheep being tested using tests that are unproved, often wrong, and guilt is presumed even if a retest shows no OJD. Who in their right mind would take such a risk with their business?
    His statements are quite strong. Darrell and Robyn Armour of Carrawatha, Rye Park, wrote:
        To Katrina,

        We have written to add our voice to the increasing opposition to the OJD collection levy and in fact to the discriminatory way in which the whole OJD program has been implemented.
    They wrote a long and strongly worded letter about the way in which the Government and this Minister have implemented the OJD policy to date. I welcome the Minister's ministerial announcement today that access to the vaccine will be broadened. We have lobbied for that for a long time. But where are the incentives for producers to test? I have often raised this question with the Minister by letter. To date many tough penalties have been imposed when tests have proven positive, but the tests have been inaccurate. Earlier I outlined the case of Graham Privet, but there have been many others. Graham Privet is probably the best example of someone who has been sued successfully by NSW Agriculture. The Minister's incompetence on this matter in the past few years has been breathtaking. The announcement today about the freeing-up of the vaccine is a great win for producers. We have lobbied for it for a long time. But I want to know whether the Minister will apologise for all the heartache he has caused producers who have been caught up in this disastrous, loose-leaf, OJD policy net.

    Mr MARTIN (Bathurst) [4.39 p.m.]: I welcome the Minister's announcement today. Unlike the honourable member for Burrinjuck, I congratulate him on his leadership on this issue. To put the record straight, the honourable member for Burrinjuck is certainly not the only member representing a country electorate who has raised this matter continually; I have been on this case since I was first elected to this House. What she did not say was what the National Party policy is on this issue, because that party has never had a policy on ovine Johne's disease [OJD]. She cannot produce one written policy. As I said, I welcome the Minister's announcement that a new brochure will be sent to about 11,800 sheep producers to assist them with their enhanced trading and vaccination options. The guide highlights their trading options relative to their zone, flock status, testing and use of vaccine.

    The brochure also covers the importance of management to achieve the best results when using the Gudair vaccine. This includes using proper drenches and effective grazing strategies. I also congratulate the Department of Agriculture on the work it has done in conjunction with the industry to develop the policies and procedures that deliver many more options for sheep producers. The changes will help this State's sheep producers with infected flocks to get on with the job and to conduct business in a profitable way. The seventh International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis—the organism that causes OJD—was held in Bilbao, Spain between 11 and 14 June 2002. The colloquium was a gathering of leading scientists and administrators who discussed the latest research on OJD.

    Mr Bruce Christie, who will soon be Chief Veterinary Officer of New South Wales and Program Manager, Quality Assurance, and Mr Pat Abraham, Program Manager, Wool and Sheepmeat Services, NSW Agriculture, attended this important conference to ensure that the ovine Johne's disease program being developed in New South Wales is based on the latest information. The conference attracted 300 people from the agricultural, food safety and medical disciplines. They came from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Holland, Iceland, the United States of America, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Poland, Brazil, France, Croatia and Belgium—a wide spectrum. I am pleased to inform the House that a number of the papers at this international conference were by people employed by NSW Agriculture or having a close working relationship with NSW Agriculture. This highlights the world-class research being undertaken by NSW Agriculture on this insidious sheep wasting disease.

    The key theme to come out of this meeting was that there is a worldwide effort to reduce the incidence of Johne's disease on farm. The farm is seen as a critical control point and significant attention needs to be addressed to identifying infection and reducing the shedding of bacteria onto the pastures. Experience from Iceland highlights that while the vaccine will not eradicate Johne's disease, it goes a very long way to reducing the impact that the disease is having on the productivity and profitability of infected flocks. Iceland's first case of Johne's disease was detected in 1933. The source was imported sheep from Germany. The disease spread rapidly throughout the main sheep breeding areas. A vaccination experiment saw mortalities reduced by 94 per cent. In 1966 vaccination of sheep was compulsory in endemic areas and losses from Johne's disease have been reduced considerably. The country was divided into zones, with strict controls on the movement of stock between each zone. Today there are areas where no Johne's disease has been detected, areas where compulsory vaccination is still undertaken and areas where vaccination has been stopped.

    As the Minister indicated earlier, the Gudair vaccine has been recently registered in Australia. Early results from Australian vaccine research are encouraging. This research has shown that vaccination has stopped bacterial shedding from nine to 12 months in animals that are grazing pastures that have a very high level of the ovine Johne's disease bacteria. This level of protection should be sufficient to dampen down the contamination over time, as successive age groups are vaccinated as lambs until the whole flock is vaccinated. NSW Agriculture and the Minister will continue to work with industry to promote catchment groups designed to minimise the local spread of the disease.

    John Seaman, who runs a property near Perthville, and Col Fergusson from the Bathurst Marino Breeders Association were right at the forefront in promoting the Gudair vaccine. They received a lot of criticism from breeders in the Yass area when they started to push this issue. They got on to it long before the honourable member for Burrinjuck and her cohorts cottoned on. People such as John Seaman deserve congratulations on their foresight in sticking with their views. What they were saying years ago has proved to be correct. There is still a long way to go. The program needs effective management and control. I welcome the statement by the Minister and I support his raising this important matter of public interest in the House today.

    Mr AMERY (Mount Druitt—Minister for Agriculture, and Minister for Corrective Services) [4.44 p.m.], in reply: I thank the honourable member for Burrinjuck and the honourable member for Bathurst for their contributions. The honourable member for Burrinjuck has probably been the most irresponsible member of the House on ovine Johne's disease [OJD]. She claimed that I had to be dragged kicking and screaming on this issue. That is absurd. The whole control program has been nationally co-ordinated—led by New South Wales and adopted nationally. As the policy has evolved over the years it has been ticked off by a National Party national Government, Labor governments and Coalition governments all around Australia, and all the peak bodies that govern the sheep industry in the wool and meat sectors. Dragged kicking and screaming? I consider it walking in tune with the industry and all the governments around Australia.

    The five minutes I have to respond does not allow me to read out all the examples down through the years but I will pick out just a couple. In 1999 the Rural Lands Protection Board from the Yass area, in the honourable member's electorate, put out a resolution calling for the abolition of the program. In response, the Broken Hill Rural Lands Protection Board wrote to me with reference to recent moves by affected producers in relation to OJD to abolish zoning for OJD. It stated, "This Board believes that Zoning is still necessary." Over the years I have attended meetings of the Agricultural Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand [ARMCANZ] and have received letters such as the one from the Sheepmeat Council of Australia dated 24 February 2000 signed by the President, Bill Whitehead. The letter concludes:
        I request that you and the ARMCANZ Ministers—

    ARMCANZ Ministers are Ministers from the Federal Government and all the State and Territory governments—
        resolve to similarly continue to support this program.

    He gave me a page and a half of reasons why a control program is needed. In his letter he stated that this was supported by an independent rural press—hardly the bastion of Labor Party policy—survey conducted in late 1999. The Narrabri Rural Lands Protection Board district veterinarian sent me a letter headed "Support for OJD zoning in light of 6 August meeting at Yass". The meeting at Yass that the honourable member for Burrinjuck talked about was jumped on by the industry all over New South Wales. Among the many letters, the Armidale Rural Lands Protection Board wrote:
        To advise Ministers Truss—

    that is National Party Minister Warren Truss—
        and Amery of conferences support for zoning and regulation of OJD.

    The honourable member for Burrinjuck, quite rightly, has listened to the concerns of farmers within her electorate whose sheep are affected by OJD. But, rather than make representations and try to explain the program adopted by National and State governments and the industry, she has carried on a populist campaign in her electorate. Her views on the regulation of the OJD program have not been supported by ministerial council meetings ever, irrespective of whether Labor or Coalition governments have chaired the meetings. She has never produced a policy—

    Ms Hodgkinson: Point of order: The wording put forward by the Minister refers to vaccination and trading options for sheep producers with sheep afflicted with ovine Johne's disease. The groups that he is referring to are not sheep producers with sheep afflicted by this disease. I ask that you direct the Minister back to the wording in the motion.

    Mr ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Lynch): Order! The Minister for Agriculture has the call.

    Mr AMERY: I recognise that the honourable member is a bit sensitive on the issue. She has been caught out again with her misrepresentation on this issue. I put this one question to the House: Have her views on the deregulation of the OJD program ever been supported by the publication of a National Party policy? The answer is no. We have checked the records. We have checked the web site. There is nothing in National Party policy that says that the whole program should be thrown out. The honourable member's views are her views only—of a populist MP who has been irresponsible on this very important issue.

    Discussion concluded.


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