Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy 25 years of protecting Australia
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The story of NAQSNAQS historyThis year, 2014, sees the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (NAQS) turn 25. This is an important milestone for what has become one of Australia’s most important front-line biosecurity programmes. The genesis of NAQS dates back to 1908 when the fledgling Australian Government passed the Commonwealth Quarantine Act. Eighty years later, in 1988, an agreement was struck to establish a Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (NAQS) following various experiences with introduced pests, and a coastal surveillance review. The following year, 1989, NAQS was born. The programme was initially funded for just two years by the Federal Government and operated by the Queensland, Western Australian and Northern Territory Governments. NAQS was quickly populated by a small but highly dedicated and enthusiastic group of scientific specialists and biosecurity officers who forged the programme’s foundation legacy that remains today. NAQS quickly chalked up a number of significant biosecurity finds and established strong working relationships with many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout northern Australia. By 2000 the Australian Government assumed full responsibility for the delivery of NAQS services through the Department of Agriculture. NAQS todayToday, NAQS operates across almost 10 000 kilometres of coastline, river mouths and islands stretching from Broome in Western Australia to Cairns in Queensland, including Torres Strait. NAQS has a highly-trained and dedicated workforce comprising veterinarians, botanists, plant pathologists, entomologists, community liaison officers and biosecurity officers. Its staff are located in Broome, Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Cairns, Weipa, Bamaga, Thursday Island and many other Torres Strait islands. The programme is a major employer of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders within the region and also contracts numerous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ranger groups to assist with biosecurity work in some of the more remote, but high-risk areas, of northern Australia. NAQS works with people from more than 85 language groups in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia and delivers a high proportion of its work on traditional lands of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAQS has three core activities: ~ scientific monitoring for the presence of exotic pests and diseases across northern Australia ~ conducting public awareness with local communities, businesses, government agencies and visitors to ensure: — people ‘Keep A Top Watch’ for exotic pests and report any suspected threats to the Department of Agriculture — cooperation from traditional land owners and private land owners to enable scientific surveys ~ managing quarantine for traditional visitors from PNG and southward movements between legislated zones in Torres Strait and to the mainland. These activities contribute to Australia’s overall prevention, preparedness, and response capability for exotic pests, diseases and weeds. Major incursions have severe consequences and not only affect agricultural industries. They also impact on Australia’s unique environment, economy and, occasionally, human health. The programme contributes to the department’s role in developing the capabilities of neighbouring countries to contain pests and diseases within their borders—especially with the threats of emerging infectious diseases such as rabies. NAQS also has a role in assisting state and territory agencies in responding to pest and disease incursions in Australia’s northern region by helping to conduct surveillance that supports containment and eradication efforts. NAQS has powered past its initial 1991 lifespan. After 25 years the programme continues to be a major contributor to the national biosecurity system, and deserves full credit for its part in sustaining the Australian way of life we all enjoy today, and well into the future. Keeping a Top Watch! for Australia’s biosecurityThe Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy has achieved many successes, but one critical accomplishment has been its Top Watch! programme. With the NAQS operating zone so vast and diverse, and its land predominantly controlled by external parties, the need for engagement and support from communities and stakeholder participation is vital. Top Watch! was set up to meet these challenges by raising awareness of biosecurity risks in the area and encouraging people to report them. It provides a vehicle for establishing strong working relationships with local communities, facilitating surveillance activity on privately owned land and improving compliance with legislation on the movement of prohibited items through the Torres Strait risk pathway. The programme has proved to be a winner across the north and has been embraced by local communities, councils, the general public and other government agencies. The early introduction of the iconic NAQS calendars allowed the programme to share more detailed information with those in remote locations and assisted mainland and Torres Strait communities to all keep a Top Watch! for target pests, weeds and diseases. Since the earliest days of NAQS, Top Watch! has evolved to include a coordinated programme of information material, strategic community engagement, such as working with Indigenous ranger groups, and participation in high-impact community events. It is a programme that has thrived on relationships and face-to-face communication. NAQS officers understand that it’s often the personal touches, like sharing information over a cuppa, that can be the difference between success and failure in working with the community. Our storiesTitom NonaMy name is Titom Nona. I am the biosecurity officer on Badu Island and have worked for the Department of Agriculture on Badu for 20 years. I work as part of the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy which covers the top end of Australia from Cairns to Broome, managing the risks of unwanted pests and diseases from entering the region. I was born on Thursday Island and raised on Badu Island. My family are traditional land owners on Badu. My totems are Thupmul (Stingray) and Thabu Augadh (Snake). Before I became a quarantine officer I was a crayfish diver and fisherman, and later in the 1980s I was a community police officer. In 1991 I was appointed a quarantine officer with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. At that time, quarantine duties in Torres Strait were administered by the state government. In 1995 we moved to being administered by the Australian Government. This move represented a lot of changes for me as my role altered and we had to learn the new legislation. I am very proud of being an officer working for the Department of Agriculture and the contribution I have made to safeguarding Australia, and more importantly, my island home. During my career with NAQS I have witnessed many changes. In 1993 Asian honey bee was first detected in Torres Strait, on Boigu Island and, with my fellow officers, I implemented the first Asian honey bee eradication programme.
1995 when there was a Japanese Encephalitis outbreak on Badu. The outbreak claimed the lives of two community members. Sadly, one was a child. Two other community members also fell ill but survived. This sad time highlighted for me the importance of my role with NAQS and as a member of the Badu community. It was my responsibility to make people aware of the importance of being careful when keeping pigs in the community as they carry the risk of Japanese Encephalitis, and were the source of the outbreak. This was challenging, as keeping pigs is part of our traditional way of life and culture. The Badu community agreed to start a piggery to keep all of our pigs, and I performed ongoing monitoring for diseases by taking blood samples from the pigs each week. These days my role as a biosecurity officer involves many different activities including clearance of aircraft and sea cargo, scientific monitoring, clearance of traditional visitors from Papua New Guinea and delivering public awareness programmes to our community, schools and traditional visitors. I often do relief work at other locations, but although I enjoy visiting other places, Badu and Torres Strait will always be my home. But I don’t spend all of my time working. In my spare time I enjoy hunting, fishing and camping and those who know me know I’m a ‘straight shooter’ and love to have a joke.
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