Caitlyn Rintoul: Councils are on edge about WA’s outbreak and saving the trees has become a joint task

Councils are on edge about WA’s outbreak of the tree-killing polyphagous shot hole borer. Understandably so. It’s threatening to cost them big time, both in terms of money and their communities’ liveability. But it seems the State Government had, until recently at least, little interest in engaging with local council and academics. I had been told as much. But I only saw that tension first hand at a recent press conference hosted by WA’s Agriculture Minister to unveil tree recovery grants. Despite being held in the City of Vincent’s Hyde Park, mayor Alison Xamon had to ask journalists prior to the announcement if she could be called forward to the microphones. She’d seemingly been left off the list of speakers. Though not everyone could speak at the State Government-organised press conference, it’s apparent WA Local Government Association boss Karen Chappell — who represents 139 councils — struggled for the same airtime. Days later, following a South West shot-hole borer scare in the Shire of Harvey (which turned out to be a false alarm), councillors were accused of deliberately fear mongering on behalf of the Liberal Party. Is the State Government’s approach to alienate councils? Councils don’t want to be seen as out of line, because it’s the State Government which controls the recovery assistance cash. But why was the Government so hesitant to involve the locals? Tackling an environmental threat of this scale requires a collaborative, evidence-based approach. Many councils have their own environmental officers and arborists who are eager to contribute to the solution. It would be tough to measure what impact the State’s initial reluctance to engage stakeholders could have had on the rate of the spread. But for now, we should be drawing on every asset to eradicate this pest which could prove to have billion dollar consequences.