If this pest is not contained and eradicated, Tasmania’s fruit, vegetable and floriculture industries will face devastation.

This was brought sharply home recently when the fresh food sections of many Tasmanian supermarkets were unusually bare after discovery of fruit fly larvae in a nectarine which had been shipped from Victoria after treatment at an accredited treatment plant.

This quarantine failure resulted in a statewide recall of all interstate produce.

Supermarkets were required to double bag, wrap and store or dispose of at-risk produce – leaving shelves empty.

Years ago, this would not have been such a threat, as we were largely self-sufficient in most food products.

However, as trade barriers have tumbled, we’ve become more and more reliant on imported foods – and these supply lines are easily disrupted.

In our increasingly interconnected world, the question is no longer whether a biosecurity incursion will occur - but when.

So a strong biosecurity system is critical to protecting our communities, our economy, our industries and our environment from the potentially devastating impacts of pest and disease.

For many people, biosecurity is something remote from their day-to-day activities, or something that is the responsibility of government.

That means biosecurity is everyone’s business – and we all must do our parts.

That can mean anything from managing macro-level international threats to ensuring profitability on farm.

We need to be alert to anything that looks out of the ordinary; we need to follow the rules where there are restrictions on product movements; and we need to support all those at the front line – biosecurity officers, researchers, agronomists and, of course, our farmers.

Strong biosecurity systems are underpinned by effective chemical regimes.

The APVMA’s decision to withdraw approval for the key chemical controls of fruit flies, fenthion and methyl-bromide, contributed to this situation.

If there are no effective controls to combat fruit fly, it doesn’t take much imagination to conclude that our horticultural industries could well be devastated.

The chronic underfunding of biosecurity agencies simply exacerbates the problem.

Too often, we see governments walking away from eradication programs after incursions on the basis of costs, rather than on whether or not eradication was actually possible.

Let this be a warning to us all.

We need to be alert and alarmed – and ready to take whatever actions are needed to ensure the effectiveness of our state and national biosecurity systems.