1.1 This Report of the Parliament of Victoria's Environment and Natural Resources Committee Inquiry into the Control of Ovine Johne's Disease in Victoria is tabled in the Parliament pursuant to Section 40(1) of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968.
1.2 Ovine Johne's Disease, commonly referred to as OJD, is a slow-developing, infectious disease that primarily affects sheep in temperate countries.1 It is caused by a particular form (or strain) of the bacterium Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. The disease causes damage to the gut and impairs absorption of nutrients. The result is wasting and, ultimately, death of the infected animal. The disease is not currently curable.
1.3 OJD affects flocks grown for wool and meat and, in Australia, it appears to cause greatest losses in merino flocks.2 Currently it is a notifiable disease throughout Australia - that is, if a person knows, or has reason to suspect, that the disease is present in livestock, they must notify a representative of the appropriate authority.3 While OJD has been found in sheep flocks around the world for many years, it has only recently been recorded in Australia. An OJD-infected flock discovered in 1980, near Bathurst in the central tablelands region of New South Wales, was the first reported case of OJD in Australia.4 It appeared to be confined to this general area for some ten years,5but the infection has subsequently been detected elsewhere in NSW as well as in parts of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
1.4 OJD was detected in East Gippsland in December 1995. A control program was devised and put into place in December 1996. It involved quarantining all properties with infected animals, destocking all sheep and related animals from these properties and paying compensation to the affected producers for the animals destocked. The program included comprehensive investigation of flocks linked to the infected sheep, including blood testing and quarantining of flocks suspected of carrying infection.
1.5 In conjunction with the eradication program, a program of investigation was initiated, to define the extent of infected flocks and control the spread of OJD.6
1.6 Since that time OJD has been found elsewhere in East Gippsland and, more recently in southern and central Gippsland and central Victoria, with isolated pockets elsewhere in the State. By March 2000, 1287 flocks had been investigated, with 175 infected flocks detected across the State.7 At the same time the programs to control and eradicate OJD had been causing serious distress among many of the affected sheep farmers and resistance to them has grown. Moreover, the costs of the compensation program had escalated.
1.7 In light of such changed circumstances, the Victorian Government decided, in late 1999, that there should be a moratorium on the destocking and compensation elements of the then OJD control program, pending an inquiry into the program and its impacts and consideration of alternative approaches to the management of the disease. Compensation commitments made prior to 8 November 1999 would be honoured and other aspects of Victoria's OJD control program would continue - that is, tracing, testing and restricting the movement of infected or `at-risk' sheep. The Government also commissioned a Scientific Review of the current state of scientific knowledge of OJD.
1.8 The Environment and Natural Resources Committee was requested to undertake the inquiry. It is a joint investigatory committee of the Parliament of Victoria, with statutory powers to conduct inquiries into matters concerned with the environment, natural resources and land-use planning.8 The Committee's membership is drawn from both Houses of the Parliament and includes all political parties represented in this Parliament, as well as an independent member.
1.9 The Environment and Natural Resources Committee has carried out the Inquiry under Terms of Reference referred by the Governor-in-Council by Order dated 22 February 2000, under Section 4F of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968.9 The Terms of Reference were also referred to the Committee by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 14 March 2000. The Committee resolved to commence the Inquiry on 20 March 2000.
1.10 The Terms of Reference for the inquiry into OJD in Victoria are as follows:
(a) "Assess the economic and social impacts of strategies implemented from December 1996 for the management and control of ovine Johne's disease on individual producers, the sheep industry in Victoria and Victorian regional communities.
(b) In the light of scientific knowledge of ovine Johne's disease and the national control and evaluation program, consider and assess the costs and the economic and social impact of any alternative strategies for management in Victoria.
(c) After consideration of the outcomes from the CSIRO review, recommend future management strategies for OJD in Victoria.
Report by 30 September 2000."
1.11 The Victorian Government commissioned the CSIRO to prepare a scientific review of the OJD program within Victoria. The review was undertaken by Dr Stephen Prowse, Program Manager, Infectious Diseases and Food Safety, Australian Animal Health Laboratories, Geelong, and completed by the end of March 2000.10The CSIRO report reviewed and summarised current scientific knowledge of OJD, including production losses, testing procedures and links to other species. It also assessed past and current knowledge of the prevalence and distribution of OJD and outlined and assessed strategies to define the potential extent and distribution of the disease. The report identified and reviewed possible approaches to the management and eradication/control of OJD (including but not confined to current programs) and strategies for reintroducing sheep to cleared properties, and assessed the advantages and disadvantages and cost implications of these measures.
1.12 Much of the information contained in the CSIRO's scientific review has been summarised and incorporated into this Report. It has been supplemented by scientific material obtained from other independent sources.
1.13 A Discussion Paper was prepared to assist interested people to understand the objectives of the Inquiry and make submissions.11 Written submissions were received from a large number of individuals and organisations. The Committee received over a hundred submissions. A listing of all submissions received is included in Appendix II. Copies of submissions, other than a small number of confidential submissions, may be obtained on request from the Committee.
1.14 The Committee has consulted widely within Victoria and inspected a variety of sheep-farming enterprises in Victoria and NSW. It has inspected the facilities of the CSIRO's Animal Health Laboratories in Geelong, observed abattoir surveillance programs and received briefings from, among others, farmers, scientists, veterinarians, rural financial counsellors, social counsellors and support groups, local government and representatives of relevant national and interstate agencies. A listing of Committee inspections and informal briefings is included in Appendix III.
1.15 Public Hearings were undertaken in seven regional centres as well as in Melbourne. These provided the opportunity for involved individuals and organisations to make direct representations to the Committee. Some 139 witnesses gave evidence to the Inquiry at these Public Hearings. A listing of all witnesses is included as Appendix IV. The Committee also took `in camera' evidence from a small number of individuals. Transcripts of the Public Hearings have been published and are available, on request, from the Committee.12
1.16 In addition, the Committee made extensive search of available literature on OJD and management of livestock diseases, and sought the most up-to-date data from various research institutions. Two specialist consultancies were commissioned. One was the preparation of an overview of the Victorian Sheep Industry undertaken by Professor Egan and Associate Professor Malcolm,13the other an evaluation of submissions on soil nutrient affect on OJD prevalence undertaken by Dr Sargeant.14 Copies of the full consultancy reports are available on request from the Committee.
1.17 The Committee has also had access to evidence gathered by the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Reference Committee, who commenced an inquiry on the `Prevalence and Incidence of Ovine Johne's Disease in Australia' in November 1997. This Committee undertook a number of hearings and called for submissions in 1998, before presenting a first report in July 1998.15 The Inquiry was resumed under the new title of `Inquiry into the Incidence of Ovine Johne's Disease in the Australian Sheep Flock' in the first half of 2000. It has undertaken further hearings, called for additional submissions and is likely to report later in 2000. Evidence gathered by the Senate Committee has provided additional contextual information to this Inquiry.
1.18 Animal health is a State responsibility. However, State and federal governments recognise that OJD is a national problem. In light of this, the six States, the Australian Capital Territory, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian Animal Health Council and the Sheepmeat Council of Australia signed a Deed of Agreement to set up the `National Ovine Johne's Disease Program', to take effect from 1 August 1998.16Under this Deed of Agreement, a Business Plan for the National Ovine Johne's Disease Control and Evaluation Program (the National Program) was developed.17 This describes a six-year program, from 1998 to 2003, that aims to:
Investigate the feasibility of eventual eradication of ovine Johne's disease (OJD) in Australia and deliver a solid basis for future decisions
on the appropriate course for dealing with OJD. At the same time the [National Program] aims to maintain control of OJD nationally and complement State OJD programs.18
1.19 More specifically, the National Program fosters and co-ordinates research, monitoring and surveillance activities undertaken by a number of State agencies and other institutions.19 Victoria is an active participant in the National Program.
1.20 In January 1998 a set of Standard Definitions and Rules was published.20 They comprise:
Minimum national standards upon which the States and Territories formulate disease control programs to suit their circumstances [in order to] assist disease control in a nationally coordinated manner.21Matters dealt with in the Standard Definitions and Rules include details of diagnostic tests, zoning and restriction of stock movement to minimise spread of infection, destocking and decontamination of land, disease notification and tracing and registration of flock status with respect to infection and monitoring for infection. All States use these definitions and rules as the basis of their OJD control programs, with restrictions of the trade of sheep between zones a key outcome.
1.21 These two initiatives, the National Program and the Standard Definitions and Rules, provide a consistent approach to OJD across the whole of Australia and a co-ordinated basis for further developments in OJD management. Since the Deed of Agreement was signed, OJD management in Victoria has met the requirements of the Deed and conformed to the Standard Definitions and Rules. The National Program does not, however, prevent States from initiating or continuing additional programs. The Victorian control program of destocking and compensation, which started before the National Program commenced, is one such additional program.
1 Prowse (2000), pp. 14-15.
2 Prowse (2000), p. 8.
3 Livestock Diseases Control (Amendment) Regulations 1997, part 2, Definition 7.
4 Denholm, Ottaway, Corish and Merton (1997).
5 Allworth and Kennedy (1998), p. 1.
6 Millar (2000).
7 Figures at March 2000 from Prowse (2000), p. 8.
8 Parliamentary Committee Act 1968, s. 4EA.
9 Victoria Government Gazette, 22 February 2000.
10 Prowse (2000).
11 Environment and Natural Resources Committee (2000).
12 Environment and Natural Resources Committee, 2000, Inquiry into the Control of OJD in Victoria, Minutes of Evidence, April - August 2000.
13 Egan, A. and Malcolm, B., 2000, A Synopsis of the Sheep Industry in Victoria: Context for Assessment of the Impact of OJD, a research project consultancy for Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Parliament of Victoria.
14 Sargeant, I. J. (2000), Evaluation of Submissions that Suggest a Relationship Between Soil Nutrients and Ovine Johne's Disease, a consultancy for the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Parliament of Victoria.
15 Senate Regional and Rural Affairs Reference Committee (1998).
16 Australian Animal Health Council Ltd. and others (1998).
17 Australian Animal Health Council Ltd. (1998b).
18 Australian Animal Health Council Ltd. (1998b), p. iii.
19 For example Australian Animal Health Council Ltd. (2000).
20 The Standard Definitions and Rules are currently being revised.
21 Veterinary Committee (1998), p. 3.
