Editorial: Protect our borders

I love watching those reality television programmes about border security.

I'm often left shaking my head at some passengers who are arrogant or ignorant when it comes to biosecurity laws.

What makes them think they can bring dangerous meat or plants into our country? Some deserve nothing but contempt.

Truth is, here in New Zealand, we are thankfully free of so many pests and diseases that overseas countries have the misfortune to have.

But over the years things have sneaked in. Just look at Psa and the terrible blow it's dealt to our precious kiwifruit industry. Exactly how did this ugly disease make it's way to our slice of paradise and how did our biosecurity measures fail us?

Then there's the Australian redback spiders which made their way to our shores.

So I have to wonder: How many other nasty things have slipped through that we don't know about yet?

Now there is another threat and it's a little too close to home for my comfort.

I felt a shudder down my spine when I read the story on how a ship came to our port and then went to Auckland, where they found aggressive, deadly mosquitoes on board.

The discovery of the asian tiger mosquito - which can carry yellow fever, dengue fever and ross river virus - on the Southern Reef has rightly prompted biosecurity and health officials to set traps and begin monitoring, in case the nasty bug made its way off the ship and into the Bay.

It is good to know port staff reacted quickly and started taking precautionary measures. Clearly these mozzies would have been on the ship when it was here.

We can only pray none flew off the vessel.

There have been cases in Tauranga of unwanted pests being discovered.

In 2008, a Pacific ground boa snake was found on a shipping container.

I am concerned about the big picture here. Maf Biosecurity axed the equivalent of 1.5 fulltime quarantine inspector jobs from the Port of Tauranga just over two years ago as part of nationwide cost-cutting.

At the time, a senior official said the organisation had to achieve a balance between money and border security.

Our clean, green image is priceless and the last thing we need is nasty pests here.

This latest case, whether it amounts to more than a threat or not, demonstrates just how vulnerable we are. In the aftermath of this and Psa, biosecurity measures in Tauranga should be reviewed.