Question Time

FRUIT FLY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:29): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question about fruit fly.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The Mypolonga fruit fly trapping group was established in 1991—

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: She wants to take the mickey. Why don't you just listen and understand that it's a serious issue. It is fruit fly. You should be the last person to criticise people for getting words wrong with your track record.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I will start again. The Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid—now if you had been quiet and listened you would have heard it in the first place.

The PRESIDENT: I am listening.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President—was established in 1991 to protect the local horticulture industry from the potentially devastating impact of fruit fly. Geographically Mypolonga is important to the Riverland fruit fly exclusion zone although it is regarded only as a fruit fly free area. Mypolonga growers have not received the same in-kind support as Riverland growers.

Local growers believe that the fruit fly exclusion zone status and the level of protection are important for marketing and export, but the industry funding for the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid recently ceased and necessary support services will no longer be provided. Some six weeks ago a Queensland fruit fly was detected in the area, so naturally growers are very worried and concerned. It would cost an estimated $12,000 to $15,000 to continue the support and local growers have agreed to match the government's contribution dollar for dollar. My questions are:

1. Will the minister fund the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid to ensure that the industry stays fruit fly free?

2. Will the minister guarantee adequate departmental support to maintain the essential services associated with the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid?

3. Will the minister upgrade the Mypolonga area from fruit fly free to a fruit fly exclusion zone and provide support similar to that afforded to the Riverland growers?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:31): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. Indeed, the funding for the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid, which has existed since 1991, has recently been ceased. This has potential marketing implications for local growers, particularly in accessing processing and packing facilities in the Riverland fruit fly exclusion zone.

The Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid has always been funded by industry. PIRSA has provided in-kind support—considerable support, and I will go into that in a little bit more detail later—by way of materials, technical advice and assistance with data management. There is no provision in the current budgets for PIRSA to take on more responsibility for the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid.

It is estimated that PIRSA's annual contribution to the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid is worth in the order of around $7,000 and it is estimated that the cost to industry of maintaining the trapping grid would be in the order of somewhere between $15,000 to $20,000, with around 80 per cent of that cost supporting the employment of a trapping grid inspector.

PIRSA can support, as it always has in the past, the Mypolonga growers in seeking ongoing industry funds to maintain the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid. I think it was HAL (the federal national industry group) that provided funding for the Mypolonga grid system and HAL has since ceased that funding. It is not state government funds; it is actually industry funds that have been ceased and it is the industry itself that has made a decision that they no longer wish to invest money in the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid. If successful in pursuing this assistance, PIRSA obviously will continue its in-kind support as per the historic arrangements.

PIRSA maintains a fruit fly trapping grid across much of South Australia, comprising around 3,200 trap sites in metropolitan Adelaide, the Riverland, Ceduna and Port Augusta. The trapping grid is obviously a very important measure in helping to maintain our status as the only jurisdiction to be fruit fly free in terms of being a mainland state. It complements other government measures to prevent fruit fly incursions, which include static and mobile quarantine stations (which I have talked about extensively in this place before), an extensive community awareness campaign and obviously regulatory control over the movement of host materials. The Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid is the only trapping grid in South Australia that is funded by industry, with PIRSA providing that in-kind support.

Local growers met on 10 October, and that meeting was to address the ongoing requirements of their fruit fly monitoring in the Lower Murray. I was invited to attend that meeting, but most unfortunately I already had other commitments. I was not able to go, but I certainly made sure I sent senior officials along to listen to what growers had to say and to contribute.

A number of people attended that meeting. It was well attended, I understand. It was reported back that at the meeting the growers saw value in continuing the trapping grid and endorsed the following actions. Growers agreed to reform the Lower Murray Irrigators Action Group, which successfully applied for industry funds previously, so I think that is a very good initiative to get well organised. As I said, PIRSA will offer any assistance it can in pursuing that funding application to the federal government.

That group will develop a funding submission to seek industry support for the trapping grid from 2014, and PIRSA will provide support in assisting them to complete that process. They have also decided that they will develop a local levy system, whereby growers support the cost of the Mypolonga fruit fly trapping grid until industry funds become available.

A single male Queensland fruit fly was detected in a permanent trap in the Mypolonga trapping grid in July this year. As I said, it was just the one male fruit fly, thankfully. PIRSA ensured that additional and supplementary traps were set up within 200 metres of that detection zone after the fly was detected. Additional traps were also installed to increase trapping intensity from one trap per square kilometre to one trap every 400 square metres within 1.5 kilometres of the detection. They were very thorough in mapping out a grid around that zone to make sure that we were able to monitor any other incursions, and I am pleased to report that no other fruit flies were found.

In total, an additional 38 traps were deployed and they remained in place for nine weeks. As I said, PIRSA provides materials, technical advice and data management assistance in terms of maintaining that fruit fly trapping grid. It is estimated to be in the order of about $7,000. In terms of equipment, we provide the traps, the clothing, service kits, etc. In terms of technical support, there are things like field training, auditing and a range of those issues. There is data management that looks at the information coming from the traps and manages detection; PIRSA does that as well. Also, PIRSA's Agribusiness and Regions Group assisted Mypolonga growers in developing a successful grant application.

Considerable efforts have been deployed. PIRSA has a permanent grid monitoring system right throughout the state and I am pleased to say it will continue to have that in place, but in terms of the additional grid facilities to facilitate a fruit fly exclusion zone qualification, we are looking to the industry to provide that support, with PIRSA providing in-kind support.