Central Queensland Region Research Articles

The Distribution of Reniform Nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) in Cotton Fields in Central Queensland and Population Dynamics in Response to Cropping Regime.

Reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) causes significant yield loss in cotton worldwide. In 2012, its detection in the Dawson-Callide region of Central Queensland prompted extensive surveys of cotton fields. The nematode was confirmed in 68% of sampled fields, with populations ranging from 2 to 3870 R. reniformis/200 mL of soil. Soil monitoring revealed increasing populations associated with consecutive cotton crops. However, when corn or sorghum replaced cotton, soil nematode populations significantly decreased. A two-year replicated field trial demonstrated that growing a non-host crop (such as biofumigant sorghum 'Fumig8tor', grain sorghum, or corn) significantly reduced nematode populations in the top 15 cm of soil compared to cotton. Unfortunately, when cotton was replanted the following season, nematode populations rebounded regardless of the previous crop. Only the 'Fumig8tor'-cotton rotation resulted in significantly lower nematode populations than continuous cotton. Vertical soil sampling showed that rotating with a non-host crop significantly reduced nematode densities to a depth of 100 cm compared to cotton. However, when the field was replanted with cotton, nematode populations recovered, unaffected by cropping or soil depth. This study emphasises the importance of monitoring reniform nematodes in cotton soils for early detection and defining distribution patterns within a field, which may improve the effectiveness of management practices. These results suggest that one rotation out of cotton is not sufficient, as populations return to high levels when cotton is grown again. Therefore, two or more rotations out of cotton should be considered to manage this nematode.

Evaluating the tailored implementation of a multisite care navigation service for mental health in rural and remote Australia (The Bridging Study): protocol for a community-engaged hybrid effectiveness-implementation study

BackgroundA dramatic decline in mental health of people worldwide in the early COVID-19 pandemic years has not recovered. In rural and remote Australia, access to appropriate and timely mental health services has been identified as a major barrier to people seeking help for mental ill-health. From 2020 to 2021 a care navigation model, Navicare, was co-designed with rural and remote communities in the Greater Whitsunday Region of Central Queensland in Australia. The Exploration, Preparation, Implementation and Sustainment (EPIS) framework was used to design and guide multiple aspects of a multisite study, The Bridging Study, to evaluate the implementation of Navicare in Australia.MethodsA community-engaged hybrid effectiveness-implementation study design will focus on the tailored implementation of Navicare at three new sites as well as monitoring implementation at an existing site established since 2021. Study outcomes assessed will include sustained access as the co-primary outcome (measured using access to Navicare mental health referral services) and Proctor’s Implementation Outcomes of feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, adoption, fidelity, implementation cost, and sustainability. Data collection for the implementation evaluation will include service usage data, community consultations, interviews, and workshops; analysed using mixed methods and guided by EPIS and other implementation frameworks. Pre-post effectiveness and cost-consequence study components are embedded in the implementation and sustainment phases, with comparison to pre-implementation data and value assessed for each EPIS phase using hospital, service, and resource allocation data. A scaling up strategy will be co-developed using a national roundtable forum in the final year of the study. Qualitative exploration of other aspects of the study (e.g., mechanisms of action and stakeholder engagement) will be conducted.DiscussionOur study will use tailoring to local sites and a community-engaged approach to drive implementation of a mental health care navigation service in rural and remote Australia, with expected benefits to mental healthcare access. This approach is consistent with policy recommendations nationally and internationally as building blocks for rural health including the World Health Organization Framework for Action on Strengthening Health Systems to Improve Health Outcomes.Trial registrationProspectively registered on April 2, 2024, on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, no. ACTRN12624000382572. https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=386665&isReview=true.

Identifying impacts & adaptation strategies for tropical fruit farms affected by extreme weather events in sub-tropical Australia: Stakeholders’ insights

Extreme weather events (EWEs) have significant effects on the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agricultural enterprises and supply chains. Australia is acknowledged as a highly susceptible developed country in relation to experiencing impacts from global climate change. Particularly, the Central Queensland (CQ) region has experienced several recent severe weather events which has made stakeholders worried about the financial resilience and sustainability of their businesses along with the farmers. Although various Australian research has explored the biophysical effects of extreme weather on pome and citrus fruits, very little is known about the business impacts of EWEs on tropical fruits, and how the perceptions of stakeholders can play significant roles in constructing and implementing policies relevant to the tropical fruit farming sector. To fill this gap, this study explored stakeholder insights relating to the impacts of EWEs and relevant adaptation strategies used in tropical fruit farming businesses in sub-tropical Australia. A qualitative research approach was undertaken, involving in-depth interviews with key stakeholders from the tropical fruit farming supply chain, with data being analysed by thematic content analysis. Stakeholders indicated that in the previous five years, EWEs had impacted tropical fruit farming businesses and their related support industries and organisations in multiple ways. This study revealed that farmers’ lack of knowledge about available adaptation options, amongst other things, are obstacles preventing the industry from becoming more resilient. Several steps were identified to improve the speed and effectiveness of adaptation at the farm level, including further strategic planning and collaboration amongst state government, local government, farmers and associated industry parties; as well as the importance of farmers being self-prepared for future EWEs. To achieve the latter, stakeholders noted that farmers required industry-level support, including training, tools, and technologies. These findings will be of interest for fruit farming industry stakeholders, policy makers and relevant researchers, particularly for the many tropical coastal communities across the world, now finding themselves being impacted by EWEs.

Impacts of environmental feedbacks on the production of a Central Queensland beef enterprise in a future climate

CONTEXTUnderstanding climate change impacts on beef production enterprises in northern Australia is challenging due to the complexity of the system, which involves biophysical processes such as pasture and animal production, herd management, economics, emissions, and the interaction among these things. Modelling is a powerful tool to help the beef industry understand the impacts of climate change and to develop adaptation plans to help ensure enterprises remain economically viable over the long term. OBJECTIVEWe assess climate change impacts on a single specialised beef enterprise south-east of Moura (24.59°S, 150.09°E) in northern Australia's Central Queensland region. This is achieved by comparing enterprise performances during a 2030s climate and a 1975–2013 baseline period. METHODSWe used a calibrated pasture model called GRASP to simulate the farm's pasture growth under multiple scenarios for land conditions, grass basal areas and stocking rates for the baseline and 2030s climates and to construct pasture growth databases – known as datacubes. The datacubes provide a simplified representation of mean coupling between the herd dynamics and livestock production model (Crop Livestock Enterprise Model). The coupled whole-of-farm model was parameterised using enterprise data collected through interviews with the property owner and allowed for feedback between the pasture and livestock systems. The feedback capability allowed us to consider changes in land condition through stocking rates and their effect on pasture growth, animal weight gain, profit and CO2 emissions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe found that warmer and drier climatic conditions during 2030s will reduce pasture growth in austral spring and summer but increase pasture growth in winter and autumn. Increased pasture growth in winter and autumn cannot compensate for the reduction in pasture growth in the warm seasons but can improve animal liveweight gain in winter and early spring. This leads to an overall increase in annual weight gain of steers (the cattle class that provides the main income source for this farm) while the CO2 emission intensity remains similar to the baseline period. Maintaining land condition under the 2030s climatic conditions considered will require a reduction in sustainable herd size, leading to lower beef production and lower profit under current pasture and herd management strategies. Impacts will likely differ from those described if a drier future is not realised. SIGNIFICANCEThis study provides a climate change impact assessment on a specialised beef enterprise (i) being distilled from individual ruminants, and (ii) considering environmental feedbacks in the interaction between pasture and livestock systems.

DESIGN OPTIONS FOR MARINE INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FITZROY RIVER DELTA

This paper discusses the challenges in designing public boating infrastructure in vast tidal flood plains, including the different construction techniques used, lessons learned in design and construction and how they have been adapted in other projects. The case study focuses on two recreational public boating infrastructure projects at Inkerman Creek and Casuarina Creek, located in the flood plain delta of the Fitzroy River in the Central Queensland region.

Gauging landholder attitudes and willingness towards koala conservation in a Central Queensland region

ABSTRACT The Australian Government recently ‘upgraded’ the status of the koala across New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland from vulnerable to endangered. This change is a result of the impact of prolonged drought, bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanisation and habitat loss. In contrast, little is known about the status of koalas in the Clarke-Connors Ranges in Central Queensland. Land-use here is dominated by agriculture, in particular cattle-grazing, and extractive industries. A community-based postal survey of 160 landholders was undertaken between October 2021 and March 2022, with the intention to gauge attitudes and willingness towards koala conservation. The survey (∼14.86 per cent response-rate) revealed that landholders were generally aware of koalas living in the area. Most respondents perceived that today koala numbers are higher than in the past, or at least stable. The main concerns for koala survival were the threat posed by vehicles. Roaming dogs, pest animals and habitat loss were also mentioned. Support for habitat protection and restoration measures was expressed. We reflect that conservation is not just the responsibility of landholders but also of the wider community and we encourage the gauging of attitudes, awareness and behavioural change of koala conservation in the broader community.

Partitioning of nutritional and phytochemical constituents in nine Adzuki bean genotypes from Australia

With an increasing demand for the efficient use of farmland resources, there is growing interest in value-adding to crops through using them or their by-products in various food processing industries. Adzuki bean is one emerging crop which shows promise for use in the value-adding chain; however, there is limited information on the phytochemical contents of various parts of this plant when grown under Australian conditions. Consequently, this study investigated the within-plant partitioning of nutritional and phytochemical constituents in nine newly developed adzuki bean genotypes from Australia. The crop took about 80–85 days to reach maturity and showed moderate to high protein and gross energy contents in both the seed (20–25%, and 16–17 MJ/kg) and leaf (19–24% and 16–18 MJ/kg) material. The leaves also showed high levels of phenolics and antioxidants, which may be linked to improved health or growth rates if fed to livestock. Additionally, the adzuki bean seedcoat contained exceptionally high concentrations of phenolics and antioxidant compounds, indicating high potential health benefits of this crop for humans. However, there was also a significant difference in the level of health-benefitting and nutritional compounds between the different genotypes. These results support the prospect of using adzuki bean as a future high-value crop for the Central Queensland region. • Phytochemical constituents are partitioned within the adzuki bean plant. • Seedcoat showed the highest phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. • Vegetative material also showed high phenolic and nutritional content. • Adzuki bean and byproducts show promise for value-added processing.

Phenolic profiles, phytochemical composition and vitamin C content of selected horticultural produce from Central Queensland

The Central Queensland region of Australia is a large producer of horticultural produce; however, there are limited studies on the phytochemical composition of the produce from this region. Additionally, some crops or cultivars are poorly known in domestic markets; hence are currently only grown for niche markets. There is opportunity to expand production of these crops if they contain higher levels of health-benefiting compounds compared to existing cultivars. Hence this work aimed to elucidate the phytochemical composition of such under-marketed and/or under-utilised crops, including their phenolic acid and flavonoid profiles. The samples included nine cucurbits, two citrus fruits, dragonfruit and Brazilian cherry. The vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection, while the phenolic profiles were gathered using targeted liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Antioxidant activity was quantified using the FRAP and CUPRAC assays, while total phenolic content was measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. The results revealed extensive variation in the levels of health-benefiting compounds between the samples. The phenolic profiles of several species/cultivars are reported for the first time. The highest ascorbic acid content was found in blood orange skin (817 mg/100 g DW), while the highest total phenolic content was found in blood orange skin (1988 mg GAE/100 g). Samples showing high antioxidant capacity included blood orange skin, Brazilian cherry and spaghetti squash. These results may support the prospect of marketing several of the crops/cultivars as functional food crops in domestic or export markets.

Protocol on establishing a prospective enhanced surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases in residential aged care facilities in Central Queensland, Australia: an observational study

IntroductionInfectious diseases are a major cause of mortality and morbidity among the highly vulnerable occupants of residential aged care facilities (RACFs). The burden of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) among RACFs...

Reading the Entrails: The Extractive Work of a Fence

This essay offers an evisceration of my troubled links to ‘cattle country’, seeking a truth-telling that responds to my mother’s romancing. I trace my family’s part in the cattle industry imposed upon Jiman Country and Wulli Wulli Country, drawing on stories populated with the hooves of cattle, the flight of emus, and the stare of a goanna. I find myself in uncomfortable territory, complicit in the actions of my settler relatives in this region of Central Queensland, but to not examine this informal archive of possession feels like a lie. The stories that shape me begin with the tales of Mum’s foster-mother, my great-aunt, about the dreadful murderous harms done during the early settler occupation of Jiman Country. My family’s later deployment of this stolen land is a related act of war. I see a related mode of violence in tales of terrified cattle in nearby Wulli Wulli Country, Mum’s girl-self perched on the back of a weary horse, whip in her hand. In all this, there is me, telling tales, like settler writers before me, caught in the writing act, exposed as a fence, dealing in stolen goods, part of the ongoing posts of making up and wires of making do. Nonetheless, I take up my extractive blade, sharpened by a field trip to this region, and carve into my family history, with its legacy of generational violence to humans, cows, waterways, and earth, exposing three extractions: the near-genocidal murders of the Jiman and Wulli Wulli people; the ongoing slaughter of cattle; and finally, there, on the kill floor, entrails exposed, the stories of my mother, laid bare for this critical reading.

The First Report of Target-Site Resistance to Glyphosate in Sweet Summer Grass (Moorochloa eruciformis)

Sweet summer grass is a problematic weed in the central Queensland region of Australia. This study found glyphosate resistance in two biotypes (R1 and R2) of sweet summer grass. The level of resistance in these biotypes was greater than 8-fold. The glyphosate dose required to reduce dry matter by 50% (GR50) for the resistant populations varied from 1993 to 2100 g ha−1. A novel glyphosate resistance double point mutation in the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene was identified for the first time in sweet summer grass. Multiple mutations, including multiple amino acid changes at the glyphosate target site, as well as mutations involving two nucleotide changes at a single amino acid codon, were observed. Both resistant biotypes exhibited a nucleotide change of CAA to ACA in codon 106, which predicts an amino acid change of proline to a threonine (Pro-106-Thr). In addition, the R1 biotype also possessed a mutation at codon 100, where a nucleotide substitution of T for G occurred (GCT to TCT), resulting in a substitution of serine for alanine (Ala-100-Ser). Understanding the molecular mechanism of glyphosate resistance will help to design effective management strategies to control invasive weeds.

Mangrove Forest Cover and Phenology with Landsat Dense Time Series in Central Queensland, Australia

Wetlands are one of the most biologically productive ecosystems. Wetland ecosystem services, ranging from provision of food security to climate change mitigation, are enormous, far outweighing those of dryland ecosystems per hectare. However, land use change and water regulation infrastructure have reduced connectivity in many river systems and with floodplain and estuarine wetlands. Mangrove forests are critical communities for carbon uptake and storage, pollution control and detoxification, and regulation of natural hazards. Although the clearing of mangroves in Australia is strictly regulated, Great Barrier Reef catchments have suffered landscape modifications and hydrological alterations that can kill mangroves. We used remote sensing datasets to investigate land cover change and both intra- and inter-annual seasonality in mangrove forests in a large estuarine region of Central Queensland, Australia, which encompasses a national park and Ramsar Wetland, and is adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage site. We built a time series using spectral, auxiliary, and phenology variables with Landsat surface reflectance products, accessed in Google Earth Engine. Two land cover classes were generated (mangrove versus non-mangrove) in a Random Forest classification. Mangroves decreased by 1480 hectares (−2.31%) from 2009 to 2019. The overall classification accuracies and Kappa coefficient for 2008–2010 and 2018–2020 land cover maps were 95% and 95%, respectively. Using an NDVI-based time series we examined intra- and inter-annual seasonality with linear and harmonic regression models, and second with TIMESAT metrics of mangrove forests in three sections of our study region. Our findings suggest a relationship between mangrove growth phenology along with precipitation anomalies and severe tropical cyclone occurrence over the time series. The detection of responses to extreme events is important to improve understanding of the connections between climate, extreme weather events, and biodiversity in estuarine and mangrove ecosystems.

The barriers and enablers to downloading the COVIDSafe app – a topic modelling analysis

ObjectiveWe report a survey in regional Queensland to understand the reasons for suboptimal uptake of the COVIDSafe app. MethodsA short five‐minute electronic survey disseminated to healthcare professionals, mining groups and school communities in the Central Queensland region. Free text responses and their topics were modelled using natural language processing and a latent Dirichlet model. ResultsWe received a total of 723 responses; of these, 69% had downloaded the app and 31% had not. The respondents’ reasons for not downloading the app were grouped under four topics: lack of perceived risk of COVID‐19/lack of perceived need and privacy issues; phone‐related issues; tracking and misuse of data; and trust, security and credibility. Among the 472 people who downloaded the app and provided text amenable to text mining, the two topics most commonly listed were: to assist with contact tracing; and to return to normal. ConclusionsThis survey of a regional population found that lack of perceived need, concerns around privacy and technical difficulties were the major barriers to users downloading the application. Implications for public healthHealth promotion campaigns aimed at increasing the uptake of the COVIDSafe app should focus on promoting how the app will assist with contact tracing to help return to ‘normal’. Additionally, health promotors should address the app's impacts on privacy, people's lack of perceived need for the app and technical barriers.

How can a coordinated regional smoking cessation initiative be developed and implemented? A programme logic model to evaluate the ‘10,000 Lives’ health promotion initiative in Central Queensland, Australia

ObjectiveThis study used a programme logic model to describe the inputs, activities and outputs of the ‘10,000 Lives’ smoking cessation initiative in Central Queensland, Australia.DesignA programme logic model provided the...

Epidemiology of Biopsy Proven Glomerular Disorders and Effect of Severe Cyclone on Its Incidence in Central Queensland Region of Australia

Epidemiology of Biopsy Proven Glomerular Disorders and Effect of Severe Cyclone on Its Incidence in Central Queensland Region of Australia

Willingness to pay for a domestic food waste diversion policy option in regional Queensland, Australia

Domestic food waste (DFW) is an important policy issue because it represents inefficiencies in supply chains and consumption behaviour, creates pressures on urban landfills, and causes downstream environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and odour from landfills. However, the evaluation of proposals to minimise or treat food waste, such as through separate disposal streams, is difficult because those impacts are not registered through normal market price signals. This paper presents non-market valuations for a hypothetical kerbside DFW collection service from a survey of households in two local government areas in the Central Queensland region, Australia. Choice modelling (CM) and contingent valuation methods (CVM) were employed to elicit potential participation and estimate willingness to pay (WTP) of the community for a domestic food waste collection service. Latent class analysis results for the sub-groups supporting an improvement option revealed that cost, odour and fortnightly collection frequency limit both WTP for and participation in the potential kerbside collection program. While there was support because it would extend the lifespans of the local landfills, potential reduction of methane emissions was not a strong driver. No difference in support or willingness to pay could be identified between the two local government populations. While the CVM results showed a WTP of $30.42 and a 58% participation rate for the proposed option, the latent class models showed that potential participation and willingness to pay varied across negative, indifference and positive sub-samples. This study provides a useful example of how a new policy option to improve waste management at a local area level might be evaluated, where the willingness to pay estimates can be factored into a benefit cost analysis and the estimates of likely support or opposition can be inputted into a political economy framework.

Remote Sensing of Mangroves and Estuarine Communities in Central Queensland, Australia

Great Barrier Reef catchments are under pressure from the effects of climate change, landscape modifications, and hydrology alterations. With the use of remote sensing datasets covering large areas, conventional methods of change detection can expose broad transitions, whereas workflows that excerpt data for time-series trends divulge more subtle transformations of land cover modification. Here, we combine both these approaches to investigate change and trends in a large estuarine region of Central Queensland, Australia, that encompasses a national park and is adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage site. Nine information classes were compiled in a maximum likelihood post classification change analysis in 2004–2017. Mangroves decreased (1146 hectares), as was the case with estuarine wetland (1495 hectares), and saltmarsh grass (1546 hectares). The overall classification accuracies and Kappa coefficient for 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017 land cover maps were 85%, 88%, 88%, 89%, 81%, and 92%, respectively. The cumulative area of open forest, estuarine wetland, and saltmarsh grass (1628 hectares) was converted to pasture in a thematic change analysis showing the “from–to” change. We generated linear regression relationships to examine trends in pixel values across the time series. Our findings from a trend analysis showed a decreasing trend (p value range = 0.001–0.099) in the vegetation extent of open forest, fringing mangroves, estuarine wetlands, saltmarsh grass, and grazing areas, but this was inconsistent across the study site. Similar to reports from tropical regions elsewhere, saltmarsh grass is poorly represented in the national park. A severe tropical cyclone preceding the capture of the 2017 Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) image was likely the main driver for reduced areas of shoreline and stream vegetation. Our research contributes to the body of knowledge on coastal ecosystem dynamics to enable planning to achieve more effective conservation outcomes.

The economics of phosphorus supplementation of beef cattle grazing northern Australian rangelands

Context Phosphorus (P) deficiency occurs in beef cattle grazing many rangeland regions with low-P soils, including in northern Australia, and may severely reduce cattle productivity in terms of growth, reproductive efficiency and mortality. However, adoption of effective P supplementation by cattle producers in northern Australia is low. This is likely to be due to lack of information and understanding of the profitability of P supplementation where cattle are P-deficient. Aims The profitability of P supplementation was evaluated for two dissimilar regions of northern Australia, namely (1) the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, and (2) the Fitzroy Natural Resource Management (NRM) region of central Queensland. Methods Property-level, regionally relevant herd models were used to determine whole-of-business productivity and profitability over 30 years. The estimated costs and benefits of P supplementation were obtained from collation of experimental data and expert opinion of persons with extensive experience of the industry. The economic consequences of P supplementation at the property level were assessed by comparison of base production without P supplementation with the expected production of P-supplemented herds, and included the implementation phase and changes over time in herd structure. In the Katherine region, it was assumed that the entire cattle herd (breeders and growing cattle) grazed acutely P-deficient land types and the consequences of (1) no P supplementation, or P supplementation during (2) the dry season, or (3) both the wet and dry seasons (i.e. 3 scenarios) were evaluated. In the Fitzroy NRM region, it was assumed that only the breeders grazed P-deficient land types with three categories of P deficiency (marginal, deficient and acutely deficient), each with either (1) no P supplementation, or P supplementation during (2) the wet season, (3) the dry season, or (4) both the wet and dry seasons (i.e. 12 scenarios). Key results In the Katherine region, year-round P supplementation of the entire cattle herd (7400 adult equivalents) grazing acutely P-deficient pasture resulted in a large increase in annual business profit (+AU$500000). Supplementing with P (and N) only in the dry season increased annual business profit by +AU$200000. In the Fitzroy NRM region, P supplementation during any season of the breeder herd grazing deficient or acutely P-deficient pastures increased profit by +AU$2400–AU$45000/annum (total cattle herd 1500 adult equivalents). Importantly, P supplementation during the wet season-only resulted in the greatest increases in profit within each category of P deficiency, comprising +AU$5600, AU$6300 and AU$45000 additional profit per annum for marginal, deficient and acutely P-deficient herds respectively. Conclusions The large economic benefits of P supplementation for northern beef enterprises estimated in the present study substantiate the current industry recommendation that effective P supplementation is highly profitable when cattle are grazing P-deficient land types. Implications The contradiction of large economic benefits of P supplementation and the generally low adoption rates by the cattle industry in northern Australia suggests a need for targeted research and extension to identify the specific constraints to adoption, including potential high initial capital costs.

Revisiting Mackay Online

Revisiting Mackay Online

Review of sugarcane Fiji leaf gall disease in Australia and the declaration of pest freedom in Central Queensland

Fiji leaf gall has been a major disease in the Australian sugarcane industry, causing extensive crop losses in the 1970–1990 period. The disease has been managed via a number of measures including varietal resistance, disease-free plant sources, termination of heavily-infested crops, quarantine and rogueing of disease stools. These measures have been highly effective and reduced detected disease incidence to zero in several districts. Over 32,000 crop inspections have been undertaken since the last known diseased crop was sighted in the Central Queensland region. All disease inspection data were collated and analysed for this region, with modelling undertaken to determine the probability of the disease being present but remaining undetected. These analyses suggest that it is very highly unlikely to be present; a proposal is made therefore to declare ‘area freedom from Fiji leaf gall’ for the Central Queensland region.