Message from the CEO

An ever-changing risk landscape requires Plant Health Australia (PHA) to explore new ways to achieve and operate with a high level of vigilance and future focus. During the first six months of the new financial year our full portfolio of work aligned to our five-year strategic plan, that supports and strengthens Australia’s biosecurity system, continues.

Board Meeting #111 Communique

The PHA Board met in Sydney for Board Meeting #111 on 30 May 2023. The meeting was held in conjunction with the 35th Plant Industry Forum, the 12th Plant Health Australia Member Forum, the 22nd General Meeting, and the 37th Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD) Signatories meeting.

The agenda included discussion of strategic issues, a review of financial reports, risk management plans and policy, as well as management and compliance activities of the EPPRD.

Board Meeting #112

Board meeting #112 will be held in September 2023 in Darwin.

Sharing the importance of science-based work in biosecurity

Continuing PHA’s Australian plant biosecurity lecture series, Project Officers Luke McKee and Rebecca Powderly recently presented to students at the Australian National University (ANU) studying Agricultural Systems and students at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) studying a Diploma of Horticulture.

Developing a National Action Plan for Pests of Timber and Trees

In the coming months PHA will be hosting two national workshops to progress the development of a National Action Plan for Pests of Timber and Trees and its associated implementation schedule.

Nanopore sequencing for biosecurity

Members from the National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostics Network (NPBDN) attended an intensive three-day Nanopore Sequencing for Biosecurity workshop delivered by the Centre for Crop and Disease Management at Curtin University in Perth, WA in June. 

Biosecurity training for the supply chain

PHA has a free online course on Hitchhiker Pests available on the Biosecurity Online Training (BOLT) platform. The course will help participants understand what impact hitchhiker pests can have, how they get there, what types of pests they may come across and where to look for them.

The course is aimed at businesses that deal with goods and cargo at critical points along the supply chain, including warehouses, distribution centres, and large retail chains.

Supporting myrtle rust research and management

Themed ‘Where to from here?’, the Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference was held at the University of Sydney from 21-23 June 2023. Over 90 participants from Australasia attended the three-day conference, highlighting research and management approaches that have been undertaken since myrtle rust was first reported in Australia. The conference was followed by a field day to observe native plants impacted by the disease.

PBRI members join forces for another five years

The Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI) collaboration agreement has been renewed for another five years with members including 7 plant industry-focussed RDC's and strategic partners such as PHA, B3NZ, ACIAR and Euphresco working together to support cross-industry biosecurity research.

Delivering surveillance and resourcing into the future

The second workshop in a project investigating requirements for the development of a Nationally Integrated Surveillance System for Plant Pests (NISSPP) was held early in June, following the recent PHA Member meetings. Plant industry and government representatives converged to discuss the delivery and resourcing requirements for plant pest surveillance.

Exploring northern opportunities at Food Futures 2023

PHA’s Rohan Burgess, Dr Matt Hill, and Trevor Dunmall recently attended the Northern Australia Food Futures 2023 conference in Darwin. Themed ‘Northern myths, opportunities & realities and sponsored by PHA, the conference covered a range of topics that showcased northern opportunities, influenced policy creation, and attracted investment to the area. The bi-annual conference was attended by more than 500 delegates this year.

Key participants at National Fruit Fly Symposium 2023

We have an exciting line-up of key participants who will present, engage and contribute to discussions around Australia’s collective fruit fly future. They include: John Webster, NFFC Chair; Dr Lloyd Klumpp, Inspector General of Biosecurity; Prof David Hughes, Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at the Imperial College of London; Dr Claire Naughtin, CSIRO; Dr Penny Measham, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries; Dr Rieks van Klinken, CSIRO; Kevin Bodnaruk, AKC Consulting.

The sessions will be facilitated by Rebecca Lang who specialises in designing and delivering engagement initiatives with people from the community, industry and government.

Recording of Think Tank Series Webinar #3 now available

The video recording of the third instalment of the Think Tank Webinar Series on fruit fly and safe trade, is now available.

Themed ‘Enabling safe cross-border trade with improved risk science tools’ webinar #3 was presented by CSIRO’s Dr Rieks van Klinken, Research Leader of the Biosecurity Program, Jane Muller, Engagement Consultant, Agricultural Exports and Dr Maryam Yazdani, Team Leader: Health and Biosecurity.

Biosecurity officers help protect industry from key threats

Grains Biosecurity Officers (GBOs) are at the forefront of protecting Australia’s $19.1 billion grains industry by helping growers manage biosecurity risks at a farm and industry level.

This valuable work is a core part of the Grains Farm Biosecurity Program (GFBP), which seeks to enhance the management of and readiness for biosecurity hazards in the grains industry at the farm and industry levels.

Combining sales activities with biosecurity messaging

NSW GBO Kate Glastonbury recently caught up with H.E Silos Sales Manager Karen in Forbes to hand over 500 copies of “Monitoring Stored Grain” to be distributed in information packs provided with silo purchases.

If you would like a copy of “Monitoring Stored Grain” or other grains biosecurity resources, please visit the website https://grainsbiosecurity.com.au/ or contact your state Grains Biosecurity Officer https://grainsbiosecurity.com.au/contact/

Queensland summit targets on-farm biosecurity

More than 70 representatives of agriculture industry peak bodies attended a Queensland-first biosecurity summit specifically targeting on-farm biosecurity. The summit, held in Brisbane on 11 July 2023, brought together plant and animal peak industry bodies to discuss how best to encourage the uptake of good biosecurity practices and planning.

The Farm Biosecurity Program, a collaboration between PHA and AHA, partnered with AgForce Queensland and Biosecurity Queensland to host the event.

Bianca Rodrigues Jardim’s honours and MSc degrees obtained in South Africa focused on using knowledge gained from genomes to develop biotechnological approaches to manage the insect pests in these systems. She recently completed her PhD thesis titled ‘A Genomics Approach to Investigate Phytoplasma Taxonomy and their Diversity in Australia’ at the School of Applied Systems Biology at La Trobe University, Melbourne. During her PhD, Bianca also co-founded the PBRI Plant Health Student Network which aims to connect students and early career researchers working or interested in the plant health space. Bianca joins PHA as the new Networks and Events Coordinator.

Jaye Newman recently completed her PhD at Queensland University of Technology, focussing on Queensland fruit fly by using data and models to simulate population dynamics in different landscapes. Jaye has also worked at Biosecurity Queensland and the Market Access Team at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, performing identification of flies and collecting experimental data for post-harvest treatments. Jaye will be joining the Digital Systems team.

Evie Kielnhofer has experience working as a Biosecurity Officer at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), contributing to national biosecurity risk assessments. Prior to this, Evie was working as a Curation Assistant at the National Herbarium of Victoria, curating foreign and Australian Herbarium specimens for preservation and digitisation. Evie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Science from the University of Melbourne and held a CSIRO summer vacation scholarship. Evie will be joining the Digital Systems team.

Matthias Jost has spent a number of years at CSIRO as a Postdoctoral and Research Scientist working on disease resistance against fungal rust diseases in wheat and barley. Matthias completed his PhD at IPK Gatersleben in Germany, looking at Next Generation Sequencing for discovering genes regulating agronomic traits in barley. In his research, Matthias worked on the development of genetic tools and associated data analysis. Mattias will also be joining the Digital Systems team.