Earlier this year, I received an email from my good friend, Dr Don in Melbourne, to try to liaise with a group of French Pest Management Industry delegates intending to coming to the FAOPMA / AEPMA conference at Sea World.  As a native French speaker, I jumped at the idea?  What I did not realise at the time, was how much work and logistical planning was going to be involved! Translating messages and emails from French to English and English to French was very time consuming!  The French team consisted of 15 delegates and partners from single operators to company directors with 60 employees, a delegate from the Justice Department and some people from the Island of Reunion (a French colony).  They were all very nice people.

Prior to the conference, a workshop was held at the Southport Community Centre where Shane Osborne of Bob Gunn Pest Control (QLD) gave an insight into his company, how they do their work and how they have achieved their Australian Pest Manager of the Year Award (by the way the French were very impressed with the Award and I would not be surprised if something like it becomes a feature on the European scene).  This was followed by a presentation on fire ants by the QLD Department of Primary Industry.  They also met the dogs specially trained for fire ant detection. To finish, there was a full display of the equipment used by The Gold Coast City Council for Pest Management which was for them a bit like the first time I walked into a Bunnings Hardware store! They loved it.

A meeting was held between the French delegation, Stephen Ware, Victor Morgan (AEPMA Vice President) and myself.  Topics included global warming and the potential consequences on the developments of new pests or expansion of the existing ones, further technological developments, the use of biocides and integrated control approach and wood decay fungi.  The French are obsessed with fungi, whether it upsets them or they eat it!  We don’t seem to have the same problems in Australia.  I remember seeing chalets made totally of Radiata pine in the French Alps, which in Australia would have been a knock down and rebuild job after 5-6 years. The Europeans are very keen to develop a good and productive relationship with Australia.

The Sydney experience consisted of a large Exterra site at a secondary school in Sydney’s North West.  They were very impressed at what we were achieving with baiting (by the way, in France the company doing the termite inspection has to be different to the one doing the treatment due to possible conflicts of interest). This was followed by a site visit to Darling Harbour and the Chinese Botanical Gardens to inspect rat lockable stations and how they are located.  They also had a firsthand look at the great Australian ibis problem in these landmark places.  A special thank you to Phillip Tankard from Sentinel Pest Control and Tim Davis from Hills Commercial Pest Control for their help in providing the sites and communicating with the delegates.

This was followed the next day by a visit at the Department of Medical Entomology, Pathology West,  ICPMR Westmead Hospital WESTMEAD where Stephen Doggett, Dr Cameron Webb and David Lilly gave great talks to the French and a Korean delegation.  Cameron spoke on mosquitoes and managing mosquito - borne disease, David Lilly spoke about research on Bed Bugs (les punaises de lit) and there was a great occasion for Stephen to show the delegates what is going on in the ICPMR lab, the insectary and the specimens and all …..with morning tea.  The French told me that they were so impressed with their site visits!  I am sure they will all have fond memories of Australia.

On behalf of AEPMA and the Australian Pest Management Industry, I thank you all very much for your assistance and your display of true professionalism.

Patrick Legey
AEPMA NSW ACT State Council Chairman

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