Kiwifruit growers want to sue over Psa
Kiwifruit growers and packer Seeka Kiwifruit have applied to the High Court to sue the Crown over the introduction of the Psa bacteria.
Matthew Dunning QC told the court he would present ‘‘compelling evidence’’ as to how the virulent strain of the bacteria arrived in New Zealand.
He said DNA evidence showed the disease, which devastated the kiwifruit industry five years ago, arrived with a consignment of kiwifruit pollen-bearing anthers imported from China in June 2009.
Appearing before Justice Robert Dobson on behalf of first and second plaintiffs Strathboss Kiwifruit and Seeka Kiwifruit Industries, Dunning said the plaintiffs were seeking to be allowed to sue the Crown for losses arising from the introduction of Psa.
However, Crown lawyers argued growers did not have a case because the way in which the disease entered New Zealand was unknown.
Mary Scholtens QC court that the official Report offered two scenarios.
Psa could have arrived between April 2008 and October 2010 and established itself on a gold plant, or it could have arrived ‘‘much earlier and established itself on a told the Tracing possible green plant, which showed no significant symptoms in New Zealand’’, Scholtens said.
In the latter scenario either a ‘‘natural or human-assisted event spread Psa to a susceptible host or more favourable location,’’ she said.
The application is a representative claim on behalf of 57 growers, with Seeka the only post-harvest claimant. The class action is being funded by LPF Litigation Funding, a group chaired by former Supreme Court judge Bill Wilson.
Dunning said he would show the Ministry for Primary Industries (formerly the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) had been had been negligent in causing Psa to enter the country.
Scholtens told Justice Dobson there were ‘‘significant impediments’’ to establishing that the Crown owed the claimants a duty of care.
She said the existence of a duty was ‘‘inconsistent with the scheme and purpose of the Biosecurity Act’’.
The Crown also argued the kiwifruit industry was not vulnerable.
‘‘The Psa incursion has demonstrated the success, resilience and strength of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry,’’ it said.
A new cultivar, G3, had proven to be more tolerant than the Hort16A variety, and the industry invested in insurance in the form of breeding programmes.