Australian State of New South Wales Steps up Funding to Combat Biosecurity Threats

The fall armyworm, which can destroy crops overnight, was first detected in Australia and NSW in 2020. AAP

The New South Wales (NSW) government is investing a record $163.9 million (US$116.7 million) into technologies to tackle biosecurity threats as part of its State Budget, due to be delivered on June 21.

Treasurer Matt Kean said on Friday that with a global increase in the volume, complexity and severity of biosecurity outbreaks, early intervention, as well as investment in new techniques and technologies, is essential.

“We are bolstering biosecurity to support NSW families that rely on the $21 billion primary industries sector for their livelihoods,” he said. “Tackling the rising global threat of pests, weeds and diseases will underpin the health of our planet and people and underwrite our economic prosperity.

“That’s why we’re scaling up our early detection and emergency response capacity to mitigate outbreaks before they take hold,” he added.

Treasurer, Matt Kean speaks during a press conference in Randwick in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 18, 2021. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

According to the NSW State of Biosecurity Report 2018-2021, outbreaks across biosecurity sectors are rising in number and complexity due to factors including growing levels of trade and travel, urbanisation, and biodiversity loss.

One example of a recent pest arrival is the fall armyworm, which was first detected in NSW in 2020 and has since been found in all key summer cropping regions of the state.

The insect is a serious threat to multiple industries, including grain, rice, cotton, vegetables, and sugarcane, and early detection is vital to minimising its spread and impact.

The report concluded that while immediately scaling up current approaches is the first step in combating biosecurity threats, the system needed to be reshaped and improved to meet future challenges by employing new techniques and technologies to detect threats earlier, as well as respond to and contain them more efficiently than has so far been possible.

The new funding builds on the NSW government’s $125 million biosecurity investment in 2021-22 and will go towards mRNA vaccines for emergency animal diseases, automatic predator baiting, mass mortality carcass management, and diagnostic tools for rapid herbicide resistance testing.

In addition, investments will be made in aquatic disease response capacity, invasive ant surveillance and response, and modernising the National Livestock Identification System.

Minister for Agriculture and Western NSW, Dugald Saunders, said the state government is on high alert for destructive biosecurity risks that threaten to breach Australia’s borders.

“My top priority as Minister for Agriculture is to protect our $21 billion primary industries sector and strengthen it into the future,” he said.

“The outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease and Lumpy Skin Disease in Indonesia means we can no longer rely on our geographic buffer to keep our primary industries sector safe, and we cannot afford to wait for an incursion before acting.”

He went on to say that investing in measures such as active surveillance, rapid diagnostics, and effective traceability systems to monitor, track and respond to threats will help future-proof one of the state’s largest industries, something critical to the prosperity of NSW.