Fruit Fly Freedom Back in Adelaide

Article by: Hari Yellina

With the successful eradication of the last incident at Ridleyton, the two-year war against fruit fly in metropolitan Adelaide has come to an end. After the government and community effectively cleared 12 outbreaks over the past two years, residents in Adelaide can once again freely transport fruit from their properties. David Basham, the Minister of Primary Industries of South Africa, commended the public for their cooperation. “From north to south, from beach to hills, this has been a big operation to eradicate Mediterranean and Queensland fruit fly outbreaks across over metropolitan Adelaide,” Mr Basham said.

“This is by far the most successful fruit fly eradication campaign that Australia has ever seen. This means Adelaide locals can again transport fruit and vegetables off their land, which will come as a big comfort to many, and the government applauds everyone for abiding by the laws and doing the right thing.” For the past two years, dedicated orange overall-wearing fruit fly officers have been travelling door-to-door across metropolitan Adelaide, baiting and inspecting produce. Mr Basham claimed that at the peak of the fruit fly response in 2019, roughly 350 people were working, visiting nearly 200,000 homes and properties and releasing nearly 700 million sterile insects.

“We have protected our local $1.3 billion fresh fruit industry vulnerable to fruit fly and the hundreds of jobs it supports by working together as a community,” he said. However, there are still Qld fruit fly outbreaks affecting the Riverland, so residents in those regions, as well as the surrounding region, should monitor the fruit fly website’s map attentively. Those in the red outbreak zones are still unable to remove fruits and vegetables from their properties, but those in the yellow zones are permitted to do so. Nevertheless, be careful not to transport fruit from a yellow to a green area. Mr Basham also stated that everyone must remain watchful and keep their gardens clean in order to avoid fruit fly infestations in the future.

It is needless to say that the Marshall Liberal Government will maintain a zero-tolerance attitude at the Yamba border checkpoint and random roadside inspections to avoid future fruit fly infestations, with substantial fines for anyone caught carrying banned fruit into SA or the Riverland. Angle Park, Black Forest, Blair Athol, Campbelltown, Croydon Park, Klemzig, Marleston, Pooraka, Ridleyton, Rosewater, Semaphore Park, and Warradale are among the Adelaide fruit fly outbreaks that have been effectively removed. The Queensland fruit fly infestations in Pike River and Renmark West are expected to stop on May 6, 2022, assuming no additional detections.