The Australian Greens will not commit to supporting the Horse Disease Response Levy until draft regulations have been released clarifying what impact the levy will have on community and recreational owners and riders.

The report of the Senate Inquiry into the levy was tabled today, with the Government majority concluding that "it is too early to condemn the proposed legislation without consideration of the regulations that will follow". Senator Milne tabled a dissenting report arguing the opposite, that "it is too early to support the proposed legislation without consideration of the regulations that will follow".

"The Government is putting the cart before the horse, trying to push through a levy when the community has no idea how it will be implemented," said Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne.

"A levy may be appropriate, and compulsory registration of all horses is certainly important to help authorities in the event of another horse disease outbreak. But the devil will be in the detail and we have to see that detail before any decision can be made.

"Community recreational owners and riders have raised concerned about costs and how onerous the collection of the levy will be. Without seeing how the regulations address these concerns in an equitable way, we cannot support the levy.

"There is no doubt that the equine influenza outbreak was crippling for the horse industry in Australia and devastating for owners and riders. Australia clearly must be better equipped financially and administratively to deal with such disease outbreaks in future.

The report can be downloaded from: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/rrat_ctte/horse_disease/index.htm