Australian Horse Industry Sues Government For Damages Over 2007 Flu Outbreak

Australian horse owners, trainers and racing clubs "sued the federal government, claiming its negligence caused a 2007 equine influenza outbreak that devastated the industry," according to Joe Schneider of BLOOMBERG. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Federal Court of Australia in Sydney by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, "seeks unspecified damages for more than 550 clients in the industry." The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry did not "immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment," and a spokesperson "declined to comment or be identified, citing government policy." Lawyer Damian Scattini said, "There are still many hundreds of people struggling to recover from the financial losses they suffered in 2007. There were systemic failures across Australia’s quarantine system." He added, "The plaintiffs’ damages will probably be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The losses range from significant to huge" (BLOOMBERG, 5/15).