Myrtle rust biosecurity inspections allows unlimited entry onto private property

Friday, 8 December 2017

Biosecurity staff checking for myrtle rust outbreaks have been given full powers to go onto private property without prior warning to the owner.

Inspections by Ministry for Primary Industries inspectors have started in New Plymouth to gauge how fast the fungal disease is spreading through residential areas in the region after it was first detected in a plant nursery in May.

Notices have been dropped in letterboxes alerting the owner staff had entered the property to carry out an inspection at a certain time.

Seven surveillance team members working for MPI have been authorised by a MPI chief technical officer to go into each property.

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The notices informed the owner that inspectors have the legal right to enter the any place, house, dwelling or marae under section 103(1)(b) of the Biosecurity Act 1993 to confirm whether an unwanted organism, in this case myrtle rust, is, or has been, on the property.

The inspectors do not have any legal power to go inside the house, and must provide identification.

Properties with pōhutukawa growing within a 500 metre radius had been targeted for inspections.

MPI myrtle rust incident controller Catherine Dunne said the inspections have been ongoing since the disease was first detected.

'All private properties in the vicinity of a positive find would be searched,' she said.

'There is no set time frame for the inspections, it would depend on the density of the host trees and how much infection was found.'

Dunne said inspectors would not be looking for any other plants, only those infected with myrtle rust.

'They are only interested in myrtle rust, not any other activities on the property,' she said.

MPI were unable to tell Stuff where the inspections were taking place as it would breach privacy law, and staff would be distracted.   

The exact number of properties to be inspected was not known, an MPI spokeswoman said.

'We target properties within 500m of the infected site, or sites.

'Our guys will walk down the streets within 500m of the infected site, or sites and if they see a pōhutukawa, they'll knock on the door,' she said.

'We can't say exactly how many properties we'll be visiting but we plan to visit every property with a pōhutukawa that is within 500m of the infected site.'

The fungus disease affected plants in the myrtle family, including pōhutukawa, mānuka, rātā, kānuka, swamp maire and ramarama.

MPI believed the fungus spores, which have infected 136 sites in Auckland, Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki were carried by wind to New Zealand from Australia's east coast.

The most recent number of sites in Taranaki known to be infected was 82.

The latest outbreak, on ramarama, was found in Wellington on December 1.

Anyone with information on myrtle rust is asked to call MPI 0800 80 90 66.