❓ Hon. Colin de Grussa questions the Minister for Agriculture and Food regarding the polyphagous shot-hole borer infestation in Perth, and the Minister provides a detailed response outlining communication campaigns, industry briefings, resource allocation, and containment measures.
AnsweredQoN 236Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
POLYPHAGOUS SHOT-HOLE BORER — infestation
236. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I refer to the infestation of
polyphagous shot-hole borer throughout the Perth metropolitan area.
(1) Can the
minister provide an outline of any community awareness campaigns regarding the
infestation that have been undertaken to date, including —
(a) the communication mediums used;
(b) the amount expended on these
campaigns; and
(c) the target audience or
organisations?
(2) What specific industry
organisations have been briefed on the infestation and when?
(3) What
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development resources have been
applied to containing the outbreak?
(4) What practical actions have been
set in place to contain the infestation to the Perth metropolitan area?
236. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I refer to the infestation of
polyphagous shot-hole borer throughout the Perth metropolitan area.
(1) Can the
minister provide an outline of any community awareness campaigns regarding the
infestation that have been undertaken to date, including —
(a) the communication mediums used;
(b) the amount expended on these
campaigns; and
(c) the target audience or
organisations?
(2) What specific industry
organisations have been briefed on the infestation and when?
(3) What
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development resources have been
applied to containing the outbreak?
(4) What practical actions have been
set in place to contain the infestation to the Perth metropolitan area?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) The Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development has undertaken an extensive communication campaign since the detection of polyphagous
shot-hole borer in the Perth metropolitan area in October 2021.
(a) Communication mediums used include a communications
toolkit for local government authorities and impacted stakeholders to undertake communications through their own
channels and networks ; in-person
meetings and public engagement at events, including several local government
forums , a public forum at the 2023 Western Australian Local Government
Association Urban Forest Conference, with the Western Australian Tree Canopy
Advocates, the Perth Royal Show, and gardening
events including the Kings Park native plant sale; over 100 targeted social
media posts ; press releases; signage; and printed materials including
fact sheets. There were also responses to specific media inquiries, such as a 6PR
interview with Sonya Broughton on 5 October 2022; Post newspaper, 11
January, written response; Post newspaper, 25 January, written response; Post newspaper, 15 February, written response; 6PR interview with Sonya
Broughton on 19 February; Post newspaper, 21 February, written response; ABC Mornings interview update, 2 March; Post newspaper photo opportunity on 27 February at Lake
Claremont; and 98.5 Sonshine FM gardening program, booked for 4 March.
(b) To date, $63 000 has been spent
on these communications.
(c) The target
audience includes residents within the quarantine area; local government
authorities within and adjacent to the
quarantine area; industry stakeholders; ArbWest; Kings Park; Rottnest Island
Authority; Perth Zoo; the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and
Attractions; and universities including the University of Western Australia,
Murdoch and Curtin.
Apologies, member. I should have put
that in a tabular form.
(2) In addition to those groups listed in (1)(c), the
Horticulture Biosecurity Advisory Committee, which includes state
industry representation from berries; citrus; pome, which is apple and pear;
stone, which is peach, plum, nectarine and cherries; and the nursery and garden
industries, has been briefed on the situation since polyphagous shot-hole borer
was first detected in October 2021.
(3) DPIRD
currently has 130 staff working on the response and has now completed over 1.3 million
tree inspections since the response began in October 2021. More than 3 000
specific PSHB traps have been deployed across the metropolitan area, which are
inspected fortnightly.
(4) The following
activities are being undertaken to control the infestation within the Perth
metropolitan area. A quarantine area has
been established covering 21 local government authorities and 623 square kilometres ;
inspection is taking place of all known host trees within the quarantine area;
treatment occurring through removal or pruning of the infested material of any
host trees identified positive for PSHB; and the deployment of more than 3 000 specific PSHB traps across the metro area,
which are inspected fortnightly.
The PRESIDENT : I note that
the relatively short question asked elicited a significant amount of
information. I invite both the asker and the answerer to think about how the
question is framed and answered.
of the question.
(1) The Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development has undertaken an extensive communication campaign since the detection of polyphagous
shot-hole borer in the Perth metropolitan area in October 2021.
(a) Communication mediums used include a communications
toolkit for local government authorities and impacted stakeholders to undertake communications through their own
channels and networks ; in-person
meetings and public engagement at events, including several local government
forums , a public forum at the 2023 Western Australian Local Government
Association Urban Forest Conference, with the Western Australian Tree Canopy
Advocates, the Perth Royal Show, and gardening
events including the Kings Park native plant sale; over 100 targeted social
media posts ; press releases; signage; and printed materials including
fact sheets. There were also responses to specific media inquiries, such as a 6PR
interview with Sonya Broughton on 5 October 2022; Post newspaper, 11
January, written response; Post newspaper, 25 January, written response; Post newspaper, 15 February, written response; 6PR interview with Sonya
Broughton on 19 February; Post newspaper, 21 February, written response; ABC Mornings interview update, 2 March; Post newspaper photo opportunity on 27 February at Lake
Claremont; and 98.5 Sonshine FM gardening program, booked for 4 March.
(b) To date, $63 000 has been spent
on these communications.
(c) The target
audience includes residents within the quarantine area; local government
authorities within and adjacent to the
quarantine area; industry stakeholders; ArbWest; Kings Park; Rottnest Island
Authority; Perth Zoo; the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and
Attractions; and universities including the University of Western Australia,
Murdoch and Curtin.
Apologies, member. I should have put
that in a tabular form.
(2) In addition to those groups listed in (1)(c), the
Horticulture Biosecurity Advisory Committee, which includes state
industry representation from berries; citrus; pome, which is apple and pear;
stone, which is peach, plum, nectarine and cherries; and the nursery and garden
industries, has been briefed on the situation since polyphagous shot-hole borer
was first detected in October 2021.
(3) DPIRD
currently has 130 staff working on the response and has now completed over 1.3 million
tree inspections since the response began in October 2021. More than 3 000
specific PSHB traps have been deployed across the metropolitan area, which are
inspected fortnightly.
(4) The following
activities are being undertaken to control the infestation within the Perth
metropolitan area. A quarantine area has
been established covering 21 local government authorities and 623 square kilometres ;
inspection is taking place of all known host trees within the quarantine area;
treatment occurring through removal or pruning of the infested material of any
host trees identified positive for PSHB; and the deployment of more than 3 000 specific PSHB traps across the metro area,
which are inspected fortnightly.
The PRESIDENT : I note that
the relatively short question asked elicited a significant amount of
information. I invite both the asker and the answerer to think about how the
question is framed and answered.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.