OIA25-0298 
 
21 May 2025 
 
Dan Moskovitz 
[FYI request #30844 email] 
 
 
Dear Dan, 
 
Thank you for your email of 28 April 2025 requesting the Rapid Assessment Report (RAR) 
on Portuguese mil ipedes produced by MPI. Your request has been considered under the 
Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). 
 
You requested the following: 
 
Please provide the rapid risk assessment MPI did when Portuguese mil ipedes were 
initially detected in Aotearoa. 
 
As advised on 28 April 2025, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) carried out an initial 
rapid risk assessment. That included looking at an Australian experience (Tasmania) with 
this particular insect. The Portuguese mil ipede is primarily a nuisance pest where it has 
been introduced. 
 
It is important to note that Portuguese mil ipedes pose no risk to human health and are not 
known to have any negative effects on the environment. 
 
While the Portuguese mil ipede was first detected in Seaview, Lower Hutt, in 2021, it has 
become apparent they have been established in the region for at least 20 years. The 
mil ipede has been identified elsewhere in the Wellington region, including Gracefield, 
Wainuiomata, and Owhiro Bay. 
 
Please see Appendix One for the report titled Rapid Assessment Report – LT113565: 
Portuguese mil ipedes in Lower Hutt and Wainuiomata, dated 18 June 2021. 
 
Please note, the following MPI reports contained as embedded attachments in the 2021 
Rapid Assessment Report (RAR) have been included at the end of Appendix one: 
•  Ommatoiulus moreleti (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae) in Lower Hutt. Plant Health & 
Environment (PHEL) Diagnostics Report. 
•  MPI 2016 – Emerging Risk Report – Portuguese Mil ipede - 20160114ERR0071 – 15 
January 2016. 
 
Some information has been withheld pursuant to section 9(2)(a) of the OIA – to protect the 
privacy of natural persons. 
 
The following publicly available document was also embedded into the RAR, Life stages of 
the non-native Ommatoiulus moreleti (Lucas, 1860) (Julida, Julidae) in Australian small grain 
systems, dated 27 April 2021. In accordance with section 18(d) of the OIA, you can find this 
document here: https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/afe.12444.  
 
Charles Fergusson Building, 38–42 Bowen Street 
PO Box 2526 
Wellington 6140, New Zealand 
mpi.govt.nz 

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In accordance with section 9(1) of the OIA, we have also considered countervailing public 
interest relating to the release of the information. We are satisfied that in this case, public 
interest considerations do not outweigh the withholding reasons outlined above. 
 
Should you have any concerns with this response, I would encourage you to raise these with 
the Ministry for Primary Industries at [email address]. Alternatively, you 
are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Office of the Ombudsman. 
Contact details are: Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143 or at 
[email address]. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
 
 
Fleur Francois 
Director, Diagnostics Readiness & Surveillance 
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