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Lovely trees at risk to deadly borer the west could not stop

A borer from South-East Asia has been killing thousands of trees in Perth, and now the deadly pest is feared to be heading east.

  • The Herald's View

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Mount Eliza beetle blight

‘It’s absolutely devastating’: Urgent biosecurity warning for Sydney’s street trees

The chief scientist of Botanic Gardens of Sydney has urged NSW residents to be on high alert after parts of Perth were decimated.

  • Angus Dalton
The shot hole borer has already caused thousands of trees to be felled.

Mulch or ‘wood product’?: Confusion over how the shot-hole borer did the Rotto swim

Deputy Nationals Leader Peter Rundle took particular issue with conflicting responses about how the borer made its way to Rottnest Island.

  • Hamish Hastie
Pictures of the tree stumps left after tree removal due to the Polyphagous shot hole borer, on the edge of Kings Park, fronting Mounts Bay Road in Perth.

WA government changes tack in borer battle, but is it ‘too little, too late’?

With the eradication goal deemed “no longer technically feasible”, the government is moving to a “management” response to the highly invasive polyphagous shot-hole borer.

  • Cameron Myles
Jim Walker with his cattle on his property at Rawsonville just outside Dubbo.

As Albanese plans Trump talks, Jim is worried about his farm

The prime minister has declared he will never imperil Australia’s prized strict biosecurity standards in his tariff negotiations with the president.

  • Mike Foley and Paul Sakkal
Donald Trump speaks from the McDonald’s drive-thru window in Pennsylvania.

Albanese to put beef on the table in Trump trade talks

The government is aiming to secure a carve-out from steel and aluminum tariffs which Trump unexpectedly doubled last week at a rally in Pennsylvania.

  • Paul Sakkal and Mike Foley
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Pictures of the tree stumps left after tree removal due to the Polyphagous shot hole borer, on the edge of Kings Park, fronting Mounts Bay Road in Perth.

Perth got millions for new trees. Not a single one has been planted

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now. So why won’t $7 million in funding for new trees be used until winter 2026?

  • Sarah Brookes
Cattle farmers have reacted angrily to US tariffs on Australian beef.

Trump’s beef attack rejected by top Australian biosecurity experts

American farmers are calling for their beef exports to be welcomed into Australia, but their imports are the problem.

  • Mike Foley and James Massola
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, left, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listen as President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Lutnick calls Australian biosecurity rules ‘nonsense’, says Trump won’t back off

As global markets roiled from the US president’s tariff overhaul, his commerce secretary said the time for negotiation was over and other countries had to “change their ways”.

  • Michael Koziol
Cattle farmer Fiona Conroy at her farm  in St Leonards.

Cattle farmers would rather cop Trump’s tariffs than diseases from American beef

Farmers have reacted defiantly as the US president singled out Australia’s beef in his trade crackdown as Albanese and Dutton say they would never compromise biosecurity.

  • Mike Foley, Angus Delaney and Jessica McSweeney

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/biosecurity-1mfv