Quarantine keeps an eye on the Cape Coast

Four intrepid Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) officers will be braving the elements on the remote east coast of Cape York for the next three weeks as part of an exotic plant pests and disease risk survey.

The surveillance exercise brings together the Royal Australian Navy’s heavy landing craft HMAS Brunei and the AQIS patrol vessel Wodyetia.

Officers from AQIS’s Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy (NAQS) will look for plant pests and diseases such as exotic termites, ants and exotic weeds such as Siam weed. They will also talk with coastal Cape communities about quarantine issues.

Quarantine officers will also target international yachts and domestic vessels.

According to NAQS Botanist Barbara Waterhouse, “By joining forces we can reach locations that wouldn’t otherwise be surveyed. We’re very grateful to the Navy for its support for Quarantine.”

Media opportunity
Photo and vision and interview opportunities will be available in Cairns

Where: Trinity 7 wharf, Dutton Street, Cairns
When: 10:30am 26 February 26
Who: NAQS Botanist Barbara Waterhouse will be available for interviews

Media contact: Penny Doust, DAFF Media +61 2 6272 3232