By Simon Shepherd
Simultaneous early morning raids carried out by the Ministry of Primary Industries on two well known botanists have been slammed as over-the-top bureaucracy.
The Ministry is refusing to say why it targeted the botanists' homes and the Auckland Botanic Gardens.
But one of those targets is pointing the finger at a colleague in America.
It wasn't quite a Dotcom style bust, but botanist Graeme Platt's still calling it a dawn raid.
“I was sitting inside in the lounge behind my computer in my undies,” says Mr Platt. “I had just got up and turned the computer on and a police car came roaring down the drive with four behind it with a total of seven people.”
More than a week ago, Ministry of Primary Industries investigators took away Mr Platt's computer, searched his records and scoured his property and never said why.
“It is the most outrageous thing I had eve seen and I never dreamed that growing plants in New Zealand could result in this Nazi behaviour,” says Mr Platt.
Investigators also raided the home of Jack Hobbs, curator of the Auckland Botanic Gardens, and seized records from the gardens offices – actions described as over-the-top by other botanists.
“To raid the records officer and take her equipment away is I think utterly outrageous,” says botanist Dr Keith Hammett.
All the Ministry will say is that it's investigating the possible illegal importation of plant material.
The Ministry denies it was a dawn raid, saying it happened at 7am, although record show the sun rose that morning at 6:42am. The Ministry says it visits at that time to make sure that people are at home.
Mr Platt, an expert on kauri trees, believes it's a simple naming mix up involving a Pacific kauri he's growing.
“That’s perfectly legal,” says Mr Platt. “It’s been in the country long before 1997.”
That year a list of plants in New Zealand was published. If a plant isn’t named, it’s illegal.
But the kauri has more than one name. An American botanist called John Silba named it after himself. That's when another Dotcom-like conspiracy theory flowers.
3 News rang Mr Silba in Florida, but could not get through.
The Ministry denies the investigation was sparked by an American botanist, but won’t give more detail. Mr Platt says it's a farce that didn’t deserve a dawn raid.
“I can’t think of any lower form of life than maggots and they are maggots,” he says.
He's now waiting for investigators to get back to him and asks if they can just ring him next time.
3 News