By ANNE BESTON
An Australian pest invader was almost granted a permanent visa until the Government told its biosecurity agency to think again, official papers show.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, with strong support from the Treasury, wanted to abandon its fight against the painted apple moth in West Auckland.
As
reported in the Herald, papers put before the Cabinet's business committee in June and released under the Official Information Act show the ministry arguing that the Government should opt to simply control the insect's spread.
Live larvae were still being found in areas that had been blitzed by the ministry's helicopter aerial insecticide operation six times, and the lowest estimate of how much damage to forestry and horticulture the moth might cause was lower than the cost of attempting to wipe it out.
Another concern was lowering the community's tolerance for more serious biosecurity breaches that would require similar campaigns.
A "small but vocal" group of opponents of spraying had achieved a "media profile".
The Department of Conservation argued strongly for eradication because of the potential risk the insect posed to native forests.
By August, the ministry had "reviewed" its original opinion and recommended complete extermination of the moth. The Treasury still said the $80 million-plus price tag could not be justified.
But the Government acted quickly once the ministry came up with a new plan, agreeing to fork out $90 million for a massive expansion of the spray operation.
An aerial blitz of 8000ha is due to start on October 14.
Further reading
nzherald.co.nz/environment
