Authorities make World Cup plea

Please leave your fruit and vegetables at home – that's the message from New Zealand's commercial fruit and vegetable growers to everyone attending the World Cup Cricket clash between NZ and Australia tomorrow.

The appeal comes after an eighth Queensland fruit fly was discovered in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn today, as authorities aim to smash the unwanted Aussie visitor for a six.



Eden Park, which will play host to the Group A fixture, is right on the border of the controlled area, which means no fruit or vegetables can be taken out of the stadium.

'We are asking cricket fans to leave their fruit and vegetables at home when they head to the stadium,” Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock says.

'You know it must be a serious situation if we are asking people NOT to have fruit and vegetables.”

Kiwifruit Vine Health chief executive Barry O'Neil of Tauranga says: 'We are grateful to the residents in the controlled areas who have been inconvenienced by this discovery.

'We're also grateful to the staff working on it and the organisers of the Pasifika event (which has been forced to relocate to Manukau) and the cricket, who have had to make significant changes to their plans.”

Three industry groups have joined together to pay for a full page advertisement in today's New Zealand Herald to ask cricket fans not to take fruit to the ground.

'We feel it is the most pragmatic approach,” says Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Alan Pollard.

'It makes sense to ask people not to take food into the ground which would ultimately need to be thrown away as they were leaving.”

The horticulture industry is united in its support of the Ministry for Primary Industries response to the fruit fly.


Kiwifruit Vine Health chief executive Barry O'Neil. Photo: File.

You may also like....

0 comments

Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.