Plans to produce natural insect repellent in Pacific

An Australian academic is planning a roll-out of a natural insect repellent in the Pacific after conducting trials in New Caledonia.

Michael Oelgemöller from James Cook University sourced the eucalyptus-based product from trees near the university in Queensland.

He said it's a highly-effective repellent which could be easily produced and sold locally in the Pacific, as it had in New Caledonia.

"We are at the moment looking if, with New Caledonia, [we can get] access to those islands so we can explore their wildlife," he said.

"We can have a look - do they have the tree themselves?

"Do they have an essential oil industry themselves so could we self-empower them and have it really produced there on the spot?"

Dr Oelgemöller said the spray could save lives in countries where diseases like dengue, zika and malaria were present.