Title: Rust disease leads to Australian nurseries quarantine
[The Daily Telegraph - August 12, 2010] --NATIVE plants like wattle, bottle brush and gum trees are under threat from an outbreak of an exotic overseas fungus. The Central Coast has been quarantined following the outbreak of myrtle rust, a disease from South America. It causes lesions on plants in the myrtaceae family, which includes more than 1600 species such as eucalypts, lilly pillies and myrtle willows.The declaration prohibits anyone taking these species outside the quarantine zone without a permit.
The fungus was detected for the first time at a cut flower nursery at Wyee in April but it has since been found at four other commercial growers, prompting the Department of Primary Industries to lock down the Gosford and Wyong local government areas.
While the outbreak comes as a blow to the multi-million-dollar cut flower and nursery industry on the Coast, there are serious concerns the disease could spread to bushland.
Concerned ... Big Flower nursery worker Tracy Forsyth / Pic: Gary Graham Source: The Daily Telegraph
Myrtle rust is considered a disease of "national significance" because it affects so many species and is easily transported by shoes, bees, even wind.
Invasive Species Council spokeswoman Carol Booth said the prospect of it spreading into bushland was "a very scary scenario".
A year after it was detected in Jamaica in 2006 she said it had infected an area of 5000sq km.
Ms Booth said that of the 1640 native species of myrtaceae in Australia, 143 were listed as threatened.
"These diseases are really dire to our natural environment," Ms Booth said.
One nursery owner, who declined to be named, said the region's reputation was at stake.
"The big issue is, if people see Central Coast nurseries as having diseases you can imagine what that will do to our business," he said.
Paradise Plants wholesale nursery is not affected by the disease but owner John Robb said "swift, decisive action" was required to eradicate it before it spread further. "It's definitely something we're concerned about," he said.
The Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests set up by the Government to provide technical advice has reportedly said eradication of the disease was not feasible.
Big Flower nursery at Ourimbah is also disease-free but owner Christian Boes is critical of a "lack of information" provided to local growers.
"I have received one phone call [from DPI] and one letter and after that nothing," he said.
