Biosecurity

WA desperately needs a unified biosecurity authority, one that merges the resources and expertise of DPIRD and DBCA under a single, competent Minister. Such an authority would eliminate bureaucratic overlap, create a cohesive strategy, and launch the kind of public education campaign sorely needed to tackle threats like the shot-hole borer.

Henry Tan discusses with ARR.News his project to identify effective food safety and biosecurity risk controls in the production, and processing of chicken meat that will result in a reduction of consumer exposure to Campylobacter, the leading cause of foodborne illness in Australia.

New and improved agricultural levies legislation will replace the existing framework next year, making the levy system more user friendly for participants and making it easier for them to understand their obligations. More than 50 pieces of legislation governing over 110 levies and charges – across 75 commodities and 18 bodies that receive levies – are being streamlined into five Acts and subordinate legislation.

Growing feral deer populations across NSW have prompted Local Land Services (LLS) to highlight the safety and environmental risks to the community. Five introduced species of feral deer have established populations throughout the state including in urban areas where they can be harder to control and have even greater human health and social impacts.

Scott O’Keeffe. Around 15 years ago, people living in the Maleny area of Southeast Queensland noticed a decline in the health of some large mature bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii). The crowns of the trees began turning brown, quickly followed by foliage well below the crown. Within a short time, all foliage would be shed, branches cast, and the affected tree would be dead ... Araucarian Dieback (AD) is on the move.

A new venture, Oxitec Australia, is taking on two of the deadliest virus-carrying mosquitos in the Pacific region – Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus – to fight the spread of diseases like dengue, Zika, and yellow fever, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives globally each year. Launched today, Oxitec Australia is a collaboration between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and UK-based Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests.  

The NSW Fire Ant Program is launching Operation Five Valleys in the Kyogle region in an effort to prevent the spread of fire ants. The fire ant team will use specially trained detection dogs and human surveillance teams to monitor identified high-risk sites.

A new study has revealed there may be a significant underestimation of a specific type of PFAS ‘forever chemical’ in the environment. Researchers from UNSW Sydney found that branched perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was more prevalent than expected in firefighting foam.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is urging the Victorian Government to consider a complete overhaul of the state’s truck wash network to plug major gaps in Victoria’s biosecurity preparedness safety net. VFF Livestock President Scott Young said the recent closure of the truck wash facility at the Pakenham saleyards has exposed how fragile the state network is. 

A workshop in Fiji this month will seek to strengthen biosecurity in the Pacific by developing a new strategy to manage risks associated with sea container movements. The strategy aims to reduce the global spread of hitchhiker pests across the Pacific region via the sea container pathway.