Senator WOODLEY (11:12 AM) —I present the report of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee entitled The incidence and management of Ovine Johnes disease in the Australian sheep flock , together with submissions and the Hansard record of the proceedings.

Ordered that the report be printed.

Senator WOODLEY —I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I point out to the Senate that at this stage the report is in a photocopied form and that the printed form of the report will be available next week. This inquiry quickly turned into a much more complex issue than anyone thought it would at the beginning. I pay tribute to and compliment Senator Kerry O'Brien for his persistence in moving this inquiry. At the beginning, no-one thought it was the issue it turned out to be. I think the Senate owes Senator O'Brien a debt for being persistent in having this reference carried through.

An issue that became very clear as we proceeded into the inquiry was that one of the questions is certainly about the science of testing, and the possibility of any cure or vaccine which might be available really depends on what at this stage is incomplete science. We must get the science right in terms of this particular issue, and that remains to be concluded. For that reason, this is an interim report. The committee will continue to monitor the issue. I believe that it will revisit the issue when the actions taken by the federal government—belatedly, I might say—have had time to have some effect.

We believe that this issue cannot be dealt with any longer by the states in isolation. Part of the problem has been the inaction of the New South Wales state government over many years. The government, having been notified in the early 1980s that this disease was prevalent in the Australian sheep flock, did not do anything for many years. The over-reaction of the Victorian government caused quite a serious problem for many sheep growers who discovered Ovine Johnes disease in their flocks and had to have all the flocks disposed of. That has caused some really serious problems for some of those growers.

We believe that the federal government must be involved. We are pleased that at long last it is becoming involved in this issue. It will have to put in some serious resources. The committee is prepared to wait and see just what comes out of the various actions and projected actions that will be taken. We were told in evidence on a number of occasions that, while a number of properties have been notified as having Ovine Johnes disease, the real number could be three to 10 times that number. If that is so, we really have a very large issue on our hands.

I particularly thank Andrew Snedden and John O'Keefe for their work in keeping this issue going and in writing the report we have before us. I also want to thank those who gave evidence. For many of them, it was a very emotional experience. They were talking about the devastation of their livelihoods and of the loss of flocks, particularly of the genetics in some of those flocks which are very important to sheep growers. You can imagine that at times the hearings were quite emotional. I compliment those who gave evidence. Even though it was a very emotional experience for them, they were prepared to help the committee to understand the extent and outcome of their having discovered this disease within their flocks.

The response of state governments has not always been appropriate. The tardiness of the federal government has also probably added to the emotional response that we had on the part of some witnesses. That is all I want to say at this stage. Again, I compliment the committee, the committee secretariat and Senator Kerry O'Brien for his persistence in having this reference brought to the attention of the committee.