Brisbane City Council to review use of Roundup

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has revealed council will review its use of the weedkiller Roundup amid safety concerns over the product.

BRISBANE City Council will review its use of a weed-killing herbicide amid calls from Labor for the chemical to be banned from council operations.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner yesterday revealed his LNP administration would have “a look” at the council’s use of Roundup (glyphosate) to ensure workers and the community remained safe. But he insisted the product — at the centre of several court cases claiming it can cause cancer — still had a role to play in the council’s work, as long as it was used safely and appropriately.

“We are happy to have a look at our practices because our priority is the safety of our staff and the safety of our community,” he said. “It is something we will be keeping a close eye on.”

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Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Walker

The Lord Mayor defended the council’s current use of weed killers, saying they were not being sprayed “indiscriminately” by council officers.

He said glyphosate was only used by “suitably trained” staff in situations such as removing weeds from concrete kerb and channels.

“They’re not spraying it on playgrounds or on children, they’re not spraying it on widespread areas,” Cr Schrinner said. “If you stop using chemical weed treatment, what’s the alternative to that. Because the experts say that there is nothing available on the market.”

It comes after it was revealed Victorian gardener Michael Ogalirolo, 54, was suing the maker of Roundup weed killer after he developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Self-employed landscape gardener Michael Ogalirolo, 54, developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which he claims was linked to regularly using the glyphosate-based herbicide between 1997 until last year.

A California couple was awarded more than $2 billion in damages after finding that the weed killer had caused their cancer. Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images

In a writ filed in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, he alleged Roundup maker Monsanto Australia Pty Ltd failed to warn its Roundup products were dangerous to human health, including that it could cause cancer.

Labor councillors yesterday moved a motion calling on the council to phase out the use of glyphosate herbicides, which was voted down by the LNP administration.

Labor Councillor Jared Cassidy said other jurisdictions, such as the Victorian Government, were already formally reviewing its use of the chemical.

“I know for a fact that (in Brisbane) it’s used in playgrounds, around play equipment, in green spaces, in our natural habitat areas,” Labor Councillor Jared Cassidy said.

“It needs to stop. We don’t think there’s a day to waste in beginning to phase out the use of these chemicals.”