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ONE of the most successful public education campaigns in the US is centred
around a bear. The cartoon character Smokey the Bear was devised to help prevent
forest fires. Australia, according to a recent report, should mount a national
awareness campaign about the importance of quarantine using the Smokey the Bear
campaign as the model. But instead of a bear, the symbol should be a beagle, the
type of sniffer dog used to detect unwanted substances at ports of entry to
Australia. The need for an awareness campaign is one of dozens of
recommendations made in Australian Quarantine—a shared
responsibility, a review of quarantine by a committee headed by Malcolm
Nairn, a former university vice-chancellor. The report says that efforts to
stop plant pests and diseases entering Australia should be boosted. The report
is available from the Department of Primary Industries and Energy in Canberra,
phone toll free 1800 020 157 for information.