Government thought quarantine OKBut the pro-Howard story it links to doesn't follow up on that angle at all. Is there something they don't want us to know?
1:55pm PRIME Minister John Howard admitted today that the Government received a letter three years ago warning that changes to quarantine laws could allow diseases like equine flu (EI) to enter the country.
UPDATE: Never mind, here's The Age version:
In letters sent to then federal agriculture minister Warren Truss in 2004 and 2005, the Australian Racing Board (ARB) outlined its opposition to quarantine changes, particularly the use of private veterinarians to inspect horses coming into the country.Hmmn. So outsourced private sector vets allowed the Equine Virus into the country, and Howard has released these ARB protest letters on the same day as he is announcing an enquiry.
Mr Howard denied claims the outbreak could have been prevented through stricter quarantine guidelines.Sure, let's not jump to conclusions. Let's wait for the sanitized government whitewash.
"We considered that view and decided that view was not properly based," Mr Howard said.
"What has caused this latest outbreak, we don't know.
"We don't want to jump to conclusions about what happened here."
