HENDRA ANNOUNCEMENT

 Dear Member 

On behalf of the Board of Equestrian New South Wales, I am writing to inform you about recent developments to do with the Hendra Virus, as there seems to be some misunderstanding about the motives of the Board of Equestrian New South Wales in matters which are the subject of this debate. 

On 30 January 2015, Equestrian New South Wales received a request from 160 members, to convene a General Meeting to discuss and vote on motions which effectively called for Equestrian New South Wales to join with Equestrian Queensland, to request Equestrian Australia to revoke its Hendra Vaccination By-Law and cease consideration of any By-Law which has mandatory Hendra vaccination.  On 2 February 2015, Equestrian Australia revoked the Hendra Vaccination By-Law. 

The Equestrian New South Wales General Meeting went ahead on 26 February 2015 and the motions were carried.  The motions called for Equestrian Australia to revoke the By Law and additionally “to cease all considerations relating to the introduction of a mandatory Hendra Vaccination Policy”. 

Equestrian Queensland subsequently referred the matter to its Annual General Meeting on 18 March 2015, at which it was agreed to join with Equestrian New South Wales in requesting the Equestrian Australia Special General Meeting.  The joint request was sent to Equestrian Australia on 19 March 2015 and the Special General Meeting will now be held in Sydney on 19 April 2015.  The motion to be considered is as follows: 

“That Equestrian Australia Limited immediately cease all action in relation to the introduction of any mandatory Hendra Vaccination Policy in respect of horses competing, or involved, in any event, competition or activity in Australia over which Equestrian Australia Limited or any of its Branches has jurisdiction and the Board of Equestrian Australia Limited be directed to cease all considerations relating to the introduction of a mandatory Hendra Vaccination Policy and to withdraw/repeal the Hendra Vaccination By-Law made by the Board of Equestrian Australia Limited.” 

For the motion to be carried, a majority of State Branches (ie 4 of 6) will need to vote in favour of the motion.  Equestrian New South Wales will vote in favour of the motion. 

The Equestrian New South Wales Board has and will comply with its commitments given to Members at our General Meeting.  Allegations to the contrary, posted on social media sites, are simply wrong.

 Equestrian New South Wales will continue to engage with Members, Organising Committees, the relevant government agencies, veterinarians and other equestrian organisations to have the best bio-security measures in place to protect our sport. 

Your Board doesn’t have any hidden agendas.  Its role is to foster and improve our equestrian sports throughout New South Wales.  We are committed to delivering this and welcome your feedback about how we can do it better.  If you would like more details or to discuss this further, please email me at [email protected].  A timeline of events is detailed below for your information. 

JUDY FASHER

President