Premier concedes ‘tough’ shot-hole borer battle ahead as Kings Park trail closes

Premier Roger Cook has conceded Western Australia’s mammoth biosecurity operation to eradicate the polyphagous shot-hole borer will be a “tough battle” amid revelations new tree removals would force the closure of a Kings Park’s walking trail.

On Monday, the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority confirmed the popular Lovers Walk would be permanently closed as biosecurity personnel embarked on a second bout of tree removals at the Mount Eliza escarpment.

Shot-hole borer damage in a box maple tree.Credit: Colin Murty

The three-week-long removal process between Kennedy Fountain and Mounts Bay Road is expected to impact the stability of the escarpment, necessitating the permanent closure of the walkway.

The trail was temporarily closed back in August for the first stage of tree removals after the state’s surveillance process uncovered signs of the invasive pest.

On Tuesday, Cook said both the state and federal governments were devoting significant funding and resources to tackling the pest, but its eradication was going to be a “tough battle”.

“Shot-hole borer obviously represents a significant risk to our fauna in Western Australia, particularly our exotic fauna,” he said.

“Places like Kings Park, where you have a wide variety of species on display there, it’s a vulnerable, vulnerable part of our bush land — that’s why we’re throwing everything at it, and I want to commend the department for the work they’re doing.

“But this is going to be a tough battle, and it’s about engaging departments right across the country and working with the federal government on a national approach to make sure that we can contain and eliminate shot-hole borer in WA.”

The South East Asian pest has forced the destruction of more than 3800 trees across the Perth metropolitan area since it was first discovered in Fremantle in 2021.

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

A quarantine area for the shot-hole borer covers the entire Perth metropolitan area and has been divided into two zones to contain the spread.

The Commonwealth is taking the lead on the response, which is being delivered by ground crews from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

More than $150 million has been invested in efforts to eradicate the pest by both the state and federal governments — representing one of its biggest-ever biosecurity operations.

Almost two-thirds of the funding has been allocated to establishing a new $97.3 million Biosecurity Response Centre in Canning Vale for incident response teams, diagnostics, and laboratory services to manage pest and disease threats to WA.

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