An already weak New Zealand dollar fell further on the news that a second fruit fly has been found in Auckland. It is of a different species to the adult male Queensland fly caught last week.
The kiwi had already been dragged down after gloomy comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia about the housing market.
It was trading at 68.28 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 68.93 at 8am. The trade-weighted index was at 74.17 from 74.30.
“There’s been some news hitting the wires that they’ve found a second species of fruit fly in Auckland,” says Mitchell McIntyre, a dealer at XE.
New Zealand is officially otherwise free of fruit flies. Were the pest to become established here, it could devastate horticulture
The fly from the new species, a facialis fruit fly and native of Tonga, was found in Otara and formally identified on Monday.
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says the second find is disappointing and the government is committed to ensuring it doesn’t establish here.
“Getting rid of the fruit fly is New Zealand’s most well-oiled biosecurity response. We’ve been here several times before and each time we’ve successfully got rid of this horticultural pest,” O’Connor says.
The Ministry for Primary Industry has set 7,500 traps to catch any flies around Auckland.
McIntyre says the market had tried to rally earlier but the RBA’s gloomy comments hit the Australian dollar and dragged the kiwi down as well.
