DEN71 welcome and no thanks.
My thought was not terrorism.
But a very real threat to every one of us.
How many of these hidden, dangerous things get past Customs.
Why are some who clearly know better being let pass , why are others fined the pittance of $200
Humans want that food, garden plant from the old country, no matter what that plant and the country.
No consideration for what impacts this country may face.

On the other hand, many new species have been introduced successfully. It just goes to show that you can have many new plants when introduced with caution. However, we don't as yet know what the long-term consequences will be. Only time will tell.

Belly, it’s all about prevention and early intervention.

Prevention is virtually impossible. Sure, we should be making our efforts to stop nasties coming into the country. But this is always going to be compromised by the requirement for a streamlined process at airports, ease of travel across state borders and into agricultural areas, etc, etc.

We are never going to be able a keep all detrimental organism out.

So early detection is all-important.

When it comes to micro-organisms, ie; diseases of agricultural crops, I’d like to think that most growers would have a good handle on what to look out for and would report anything suspicious quickly.

But when it comes to macro-organisms it seems to be a different story.

For some years I have been concerned with Weedspotters.
http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/plants/herbarium/weed_spotters_queensland_network.html

This project is designed to get people to take an interest in unusual looking plants and to send specimens or photos for identification, so that weeds can be detected early and dealt with promptly.

It has however only met with limited success. As a botanist, I have taken a big interest in weeds. I am forever finding records of weeds that are hundreds of kilometres from the nearest known record.

It is clear that there are only very few people who are interested in Weedspotters. The early detection side of this whole business is sadly lacking.

continued

There are also problems with the scientific fraternity.

Six years ago I collected Begonia hirtella.

http://keys.trin.org.au/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Begonia_hirtella.htm

This was then the first feral record for the species, genus and family for Queensland, if not Australia. I sent a set of photos with the top-quality specimen of flowering and fruiting material which clearly showed that this plant was going feral along a roadside near Cape Tribulation. And the specimen and all the data was rejected, because one particular person felt that the population was not big enough to be recorded!

I was extremely unimpressed. So much for early detection.

There is also a real reluctance for councils to deal with weeds when they are first reported, as they are often deemed to not be of significance until they have been shown to be rampant and rapidly spreading, by which time they are very expensive to deal with and it is probably too late to stop them.

Ludwig very well put and I agree with you.
As you above all know we have had our failures.
Prickly pear took us to the edge but we won,we are yet to beat cane toads.
Foxes are forever now as are rabbits, some birds too ,bird flue if we get it will travel on unwanted but now naturalized birds.
I think if fines started at thousands not hundreds it would help.

Belly,
I think you are right, the fines need to be much tougher, but I guess the tourist industry would not be happy about their customers complaining about our stringent customs.

I am concerned about NZ apples being allowed in and Phillipines bananas. Other countries are wanting access to our markets for their produce. It is all a risk.

I am told very few shipping containers are inspected. Just a few years ago we had a few items of furniture (from my wifes mothers estate) imported from the UK. We were told it would be fumigated and so on but on arrival at our door none of the packing seemed to be tampered with, so obviously no inspection was carried out. You can bet lots of family heirlooms are imported by immigrants and who knows what they contain.

We have been lucky so far that some exotic diseases have not arrived. We can do without Foot and Mouth, Rabies and so on. But we can expect these types of things anytime. Plant, animal and human diseases.