Editorial: Moth's victory a wakeup call to agencies

If biosecurity were a boxing match, the gumleaf skeletoniser would just have scored a technical knockout over the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The ministry has conceded that the Australian moth, which attacks eucalypt trees, is out of control in South Auckland. Eradication of the pest, through spraying and the removal of host trees, is no longer viable, and "long-term management" has become the only option. The raising of the white flag should be a defining moment, and a catalyst for action, in the increasingly difficult battle to protect our primary producers and flora and fauna from foreign invaders.

Hardly a week goes by, it seems, without some unwanted beetle, spider, mosquito or moth being uncovered by MAF's quarantine service or belatedly discovered as a threatening infestation. The reasons are easy to discern. New Zealand undertakes more trade than ever before. Container traffic has increased 180 per cent in just over a decade; now, 420,000 containers land here every year. Yet the ministry inspects only a quarter of high-risk containers, and randomly selects a further 5 to 10 per cent for internal inspection. We, likewise, are welcoming more tourists than ever. If some pests hitch-hike in containers, others arrive in the likes of golf-bags, the apparent route by which the gumleaf skeletoniser first alighted.

The growing threat should have galvanised the agencies responsible for safeguarding our borders. Yet successive reports have identified a lack of common goals and communication, and not a little rivalry, between MAF, the Department of Conservation and the Health Ministry. They have also identified the logical remedy - a confirmation of MAF's lead role, and the formation of an overarching group of departmental executives who would make major decisions on biosecurity.

Such improvements are now being assessed by an expert panel, and changes are due to be announced next month. But a more efficient bureaucracy is only part of the solution. The Government must stump up funding to ensure that either a far larger percentage of containers is inspected or smarter techniques are used. Precautions at airports have already been beefed up; the same must be done at ports. If this is not to be achieved by employing more MAF staff, the work will have to be contracted to private companies.

The Biosecurity Minister estimates it will cost $90 million a year to check every container. Some may jib at that cost, as importers may be annoyed at shipping delays arising from a stricter inspection regime. But too much is at stake in the primary sector to pay heed to such objections. The sum of $90 million is, in fact, the same as that allocated to eradicate the painted apple moth in West Auckland - a pest that is thought to have arrived in a container.

Much of that $90 million is a result of the moth not being tackled with urgency as soon as it appeared. The same applied to the gumleaf skeletoniser. It was apparently exterminated at Mt Maunganui in 1997 but was then discovered near Auckland Airport in 2001 - up to seven years after it first infested the region. It is now spreading rapidly, much to the discomfort of the country's 1000 eucalypt growers, who thought they were doing the right thing by diversifying from pinus radiata, and who will now have to pay to "manage" the moth. And to that can be added the potential discomfort of native forests of rata and kanuka, which are thought also to be attractive to the voracious pest.

Denying entry to foreign invaders is, of course, the best means of protecting the country's flora and fauna. But prevention is beyond the present capabilities of our biosecurity agencies; the long trail of unwanted pests making their way here confirms as much. Those who guard our borders must be given the resources to do their job properly. If not, some pest far more damaging than the gumleaf skeletoniser may soon be out of control.