Liberals ‘should be embarrassed’: Jarvis hits out over ‘rumour-mongering’

WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis has refuted reports the polyphagous shot-hole borer has been found in the Shire of Harvey, castigating the Liberal Party for what she described as “irresponsible rumour-mongering”.

During a press conference on Monday, Jarvis revealed Shire of Harvey officers appeared to have mistaken the European house borer — a well-known and established pest — for the South East Asian pest responsible for destroying 3000 trees in the Perth metropolitan area.

WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis.Credit: Hamish Hastie

The rumour is understood to have arisen just over an hour after the state announced millions in funding to combat the shot-hole borer.

It was later republished by The West Australian newspaper.

But Jarvis declined to place blame at the feet of shire officers, instead accusing the Liberal Party of seeking to politicise the matter and creating fear and angst in the process.

The Member for South West reserved special criticism for Liberal leader Libby Mettam and high-profile candidate for Churchlands Basil Zempilas, claiming the pair had refused to remove social media posts perpetuating the misinformation.

“Someone within the Shire of Harvey thought the European house borer was the same as the shot hole borer, and then rang their friends in the Liberal Party.

“I know that farmers are deeply distressed about this ... I can categorically confirm the shot-hole borer has not been found out of metropolitan Perth.

“The Liberal Party should be embarrassed that they spread a false rumour, and took glee in telling people that the borer was in an agricultural region.”

A short time later, Mettam released a statement acknowledging the reports regarding the borer’s detection in Harvey had been incorrect but doubling-down on criticisms levelled at the state government over its handling of the pest — including Jarvis.

“The fact the borer is not in the Shire of Harvey is good news,” Mettam said.

“This does not change the fact that the Cook Labor government’s response to the shot hole borer has been totally lacklustre and inadequate, and it could only be a matter of time before it is detected in the South West.

“Local governments across Perth have been crying out for more assistance to deal with this for months.

“Jackie Jarvis is out of her depth, and she has allowed a biosecurity disaster to develop in WA, which could cause billions of dollars of damage to our agricultural industries, while changing the face of Perth forever – I will not apologise for standing up for WA’s interests.”

Zempilas said he was unaware the reports had been false until being contacted by this masthead and that he had since published a correction.

The pest kills trees via boring holds in trees, planting a fungus that it farms for food but which prevents trees transferring nutrients, slowly killing them.

The state government has invested more than $44 million to date to eradicate the pest, representing one of its biggest-ever biosecurity operations.

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