Quest for Rabbit Calicivirus Disease information goes to AAT

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EDO News

Newsletter of the Environmental Defenders Office WA (Western Australia)

Vol 6 No 4 December 2000/January 2001

 

Quest for Rabbit Calicivirus Disease information goes to AAT

 

The EDO will represent an animal right's activist early in the new year in

an Administrative

Appeals Tribunal bid to access information about a proposed new way of

releasing

Rabbit Calicivirus Disease.

 

Through an FOI application on 25 June 1999, Marguerite Wegner applied to the

National

Registration Authority for any documents relating to an application to

approve the use of RCD baits.

After a lengthy dispute about fees for access the NRA released some but not

all of the

information sought.

 

Critical information being withheld includes the locations of on-farm bait

trials, and the scientific

protocols for testing. Mrs Wegner is in regular contact with a number of

independent scientists

around the world who want to scrutinise these protocols, and possibly

conduct Australian

field tests.

 

An " internal review " application to the NRA (whereby a more senior officer

reviewed the agency's

original decision as to access) was rejected in September of this year.

 

With the help of the EDO solicitor Cameron Poustie, Ms Wegner then applied

to the Commonwealth

Ombudsman seeking, among other things, more detailed reasons for the NRA's

refusal.

These reasons were forthcoming in November and have now formed the basis for

the AAT

application.

 

Arguments in the AAT will focus on such issues as whether some documents are

properly described as " confidential " , whether other documents are

" irrelevant " to (Mrs Wegner's) FOI request, and whether the

public interest in the disclosure of the locations of on-farm trials

overrides the public interest in the farmer's " privacy " being protected.

 

Unlike a court, the AAT has the power to put itself in the shoes of the NRA

and examine its access decision afresh. A preliminary conference between the

parties to examine the prospects of settling this dispute by agreement, is

likely to take place in January.

 

[update - the date for the first conference is February 14th, 2001).

 

Inset: RCD, also known as Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease, kills wild rabbits

over a 30 hour period

by causing clotting and massive internal bleeding. In addition to being seen

as inhumane

many international scientists are concerned the disease will affect native

fauna or even humans.

Spreading RCD with baits is seen as increasing the risk of this

" species-jumping " taking place.