Interview with James Cross

Interview with Jim (James) Cross, born in Lincolnshire, England in 1942. Refers to growing up in West Bridgeford, his mother dying when he was 14, working on a farm after he left school and then attending a farming college. Talks about coming to New Zealand with a friend in 1964, meeting his wife on the ship, and working as a herd tester.

Describes joining the Port Agriculture Service in Auckland in 1966. Refers to being given the operations manual and inspection equipment, training on the job and through courses, and the uniform. Talks about duties including ship clearance, cargo inspection, airport baggage inspection, and produce inspection for import and export. Refers to mail inspection at the main post office. Mentions the rostered work at Mangere Airport and sometimes long hours. Reflects on the working environment with a great variety of places, industries and people. Comments on returning to England in 1967 for a period, and then going to Wellington to work in the Service.

Discusses joining the New Zealand Forest Service in Auckland in 1971 as a timber inspector. Talks about the work inspecting any wood coming in on ships, checking all wooden material in wharf sheds and bond stores for signs of insect damage, and ordering fumigation or destruction of infested materials. Mentions inspection of ships' dunnage for infestation, fumigation by commercial firms, and that he introduced a method of testing for successful fumigation. Refers to accidental introduction of the burnt pine longhorn beetle and it becoming necessary to fumigate all timber exported to Australia in the summer. Refers to the Timber Import and Export Regulations 1966 which governed their work, and the forms and certificates it specified. Comments that timber inspection originally started after termites arrived in telephone poles from Australia. Explains containerisation changed the job dramatically as shipping companies had to provide ship's manifests and access to specified containers. Mentions Australia requiring any timber component of a container be treated, but external coding of containers was often inaccurate. Refers to streamlining of container inspection processes to reduce congestion on the wharf. Describes doing the same sort of checking of freight at Mangere Airport, and Onehunga and Whangarei ports. Discusses responding to reports received from the public about insect pests, usually Australian termites. Comments on disputes over treatment chemicals for timber, the establishment of the Timber Preservation Authority, the registration of treatment plants, and travelling to inspect them. Mentions becoming senior timber inspector in Hawkes Bay in 1980 in a two-person operation, and becoming District Timber Inspector and Area Timber Preservation Officer in Nelson in 1983. Mentions this was a hands-on job as well as administrative, and dealing with infested dunnage being an important part of the work. Refers to inspecting fishing trawlers, with Russian trawlers being a great source of insects.

Talks about quarantine services carrying on unchanged when the Ministry of Forestry was established in 1997, becoming manager of port operations, and praises his manager Alan Flux. Recalls trainees being employed to balance their aging workforce. Describes a trip to Vladivostok in 1997 to audit the Russian quarantine service after Asian gypsy moth had spread to Canada and Auckland. Comments on retaining his job when the Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry merged in 1998, with the import and export functions split between the MAF Quarantine Service and AgriQuality, and chosing to work with the former. Describes having to learn new procedures in the MAF manual, and the increase in computerisation. Reflects on the use of audits rather than checking everything and questions relying on the people unpacking containers instead of trained officers checking imports. Mentions his retirement and current contract work for AgriQuality travelling to other countries to audit imports from New Zealand. Recalls colleagues Harry Williams, Albert Cutree, Les Brunton, Len Greaves and Bruce Hanley and their diverse backgrounds.

Interviewer(s) - Megan Hutching

Accompanying material - List of Forest Service timber inspection staff by port compiled by Jim Cross in 2007 (2 p.), with printed abstract

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHDL-002003

Quantity: 1 digital sound recording(s). 2 Electronic document(s) - abstract, form. 1 printed abstract(s). 1 interview(s) over 2 days. 3.40 Hours and minutes Duration.

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHDL-002004, OHA-7303.

Search dates: 1942 - 2009

Original recordings not available for playback. Surrogate copies will be provided.

Alternative form available: Both printed and digital versions of the abstract are available