CATEGORY
Invasive species
Govt’s fire ant response lambasted
Local Member for Groom Garth Hamilton has strongly condemned the federal government’s response to the spread of fire ants, which have the potential to wreak havoc on the Darling Downs. Mr Hamilton, is demanding the government urgently responds to the Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants in Australia, which was delivered in April 2024.
Lovegrass control measures
What is the outcome from the motion about the invasive African Lovegrass? This was the question on notice put to the chief executive officer of the Tatiara District Council by Cr Miles Hannemann during its July council meeting. Fears of the invasive African Lovegrass fully invading the Tatiara district and potentially destroying the agriculture sector are growing … Cr Hannemann described the situation involving the spread of the lovegrass as “scary and a superspreader”.
Calls to declare buffel grass a national weed are rash and misinformed: NFF
Calls to declare productive agricultural plant as a Weed of National Significance (WoNS) are misinformed and risk jeopardising an important livestock feed source, according to the National Farmers’ Federation. NFF Sustainable Development and Climate Change Committee Chair Mr Angus Atkinson said buffel grass was a vital resource for livestock operations and was carefully managed by producers to support grazing operations.
Predicting Australia’s exposure to exotic pests: DAFF
Australian researchers are peering into the future to prepare for tomorrow’s biggest biosecurity risks. ​The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA) has developed forecasting models that analyse changing climates and international trade flows to determine which pests will hit Australia hardest over the coming decades.
Fire Ant Biosecurity Emergency Order extended
Red Imported Fire Ant detections have increased around the NSW border since the highly invasive pests were found at Tallebudgera, 6km across the border into Queensland, in July 2023, with 7 additional sites resulting in an Emergency Biosecurity Order that has just been extended. Implemented on July 17, 2024, the Biosecurity (Fire Ant) Emergency Order made by Chief Invasive Species Officer, Scott Charlton, was extended on August 6 for another 6 months.
Deer harvest numbers increase
The Game Management Authority (GMA) recently released the Estimates of the 2023 deer harvest in Victoria report. Results show an estimated 137,090 deer were harvested in 2023 which is an 11 per cent increase on the estimated 123,400 deer harvested in 2022 and a 59 per cent increase on the long-term average of 86,400.
Robert Borsak expresses deep concerns over RSPCA’s role in Brumby Shooting Program
Member of the NSW Legislative Council, The Hon. Robert Borsak MLC, has voiced significant concerns during ... Inquiry hearing regarding the Brumby Shooting Program in Kosciuszko National Park. Mr. Borsak's apprehensions were sparked by the responses provided by the RSPCA, which he argues demonstrate a worrying lack of expertise and practical knowledge about aerial shooting, ballistics and the animals being targeted.
Daylight saving and wild dogs up for debate: NSW Farmers Association
Wild dogs, shortening daylight saving and improving the renewable energy rollout were just some of agriculture’s hot topics up for debate as NSW Farmers returned for the final day of its 2024 Annual Conference yesterday. NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said while Australia needed strong farms to feed the future, the sector was facing a wide range of challenges that delegates were keen to address...
‘Our gardens are like ticking time bombs’
Experts warn a lack of regulation in the garden industry is seeing weedy plants, that can easily be bought in nurseries or online, ‘suffocate’ our native waterways and bushland, with urgent calls for action to prevent more irreversible damage ... Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Jack Gough said an incredible three-quarters of all listed weeds in Australia are escaped garden plants and every year the problem gets worse.
Toad-ally awesome project halts cane toad invasion: Deakin University
Stopping cane toads with a Toad Containment Zone (TCZ) before they reach the Pilbara in Western Australia will protect 27 million hectares of sensitive habitat, significant Aboriginal cultural heritage, and a trove of native Australian animals from population decline … the TCZ was created to halt a toad invasion with a landscape level strategy – effectively, a ‘toad-break’ - on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert.
APDHA wants 10,000 ears in nation-wide project
“Imagine shifting gear from being just pig chasers to becoming field staff in the world's biggest wild pig research project.” That’s the message the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA) is sending to pig hunters across Australia. The bold plan by the national hunting group aims to collect 10,000 feral pigs' ears as part of a study of the animals...
Buffel grass declared a weed
Buffel grass has been declared a weed and a management plan will now be formalised towards reducing its impact in Central Australia, according to Environment Minister Kate Worden ... The Arid Lands Environment Centre says it welcomes "this historic decision" following "a decades long struggle to confront one of the greatest threats to the arid and semiarid lands."
Buffel grass declared a weed: Worden
The Lawler Labor Government has declared buffel grass a weed and will now move towards reducing its impact in Central Australia by formalising a weed management plan. The recommendation to make the declaration under the Weeds Management Act 2001 was informed by the work of both the Technical Working Group, and the Buffel Grass Management Strategy 2024-2030, as developed by the Buffel Grass Weed Advisory Committee.
No bushfire expert on panel
The Howitt Society has condemned the state government for not including bushfire expertise on the panel that is investigating the future of Gippsland's native forest ... The Howitt Society's bushfire fears come as a cross-section of bush users, miners and prospectors are rebelling against the possibility that several hundred thousand extra hectares of forest could be included in a Great Forest National Park.
Weedkilling Gunbower Creek drone trial: Stage one complete
A trial using a drone to tackle invasive weeds clogging Gunbower Creek is looking promising. A $100,000 Victorian Government investment allowed North Central CMA and Goulburn Murray Water to trial drone spraying technology alongside conventional boat based spraying to tackle the highly invasive pale yellow water lily in a section of the creek over summer.
The elephant in the room has antlers
With deer numbers currently at a record high, there is a growing threat to people’s lives, according to Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley."Twice in recent weeks, cars have been written off after hitting deer on the roads around Wodonga," he said." ... "This is now a deer plague that threatens people’s lives," he said.
Nobby to be biosecurity surveillance target
Landholders in Nobby will be targeted by Toowoomba Regional Council’s Biosecurity Surveillance Program in the 2024/25 financial year. Nobby in one of six places in the region to be selected as a priority surveillance area for the upcoming year, alongside Athol, Gilla, Douglas, Malling and Dunmore.
Invasive weeds destroying Moonta
Joanne Tucker. One of Australia’s worst invasive weeds has been identified in 31 new locations in the Northern and Yorke region, including Moonta ... “The roadside infestations have just jumped the fenceline into the adjoining properties, so we will work with those landowners to control the buffel on their properties”: David Hughes, Northern and Yorke Landscape Board team leader.
The best Hollywood script ever – the brumby cull in New South Wales: Robert Onfray
Robert Onfray. Any Hollywood film producer needing a blockbuster script should look no further than New South Wales and the aerial culling of brumbies. It is a highly polarised issue and has been for many years. After all, the concern about culling brumbies is not matched by concerns to kill other feral animals or pests, such as deer, pigs, rabbits, foxes and cats. In one corner ... the brumby haters. In the other corner are the brumby lovers ...
Lovegrass threat
It’s scary and a superspreader. That’s how a Keith farmer and elected councillor of the Tatiara District Council has described the situation involving the spread of African lovegrass in the Upper South East ... Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) is a long-lived tussock-forming grass usually growing 30 to 120cm tall.
Dean addresses CWA on fire ants response
Kimberly Grabham. Dean Whitehead spoke at a recent meeting of Hay CWA in response to the threat of fire ants, and to explain the Fire Ant Eradication Program. Mr Whitehead said the objective in regards to fire ants is eradication, and a stringent process is followed to achieve this goal.
Pig problem escalates: NSW Farmers
Farmers are reporting a fresh surge in feral pig numbers, prompting a call to escalate funding to fight the state’s feral pig problem ... “There’s reports of feral pigs weighing well over 100 kilograms charging through the paddocks, trashing food crops and killing calves and lambs at the drop of a hat”: NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin.
