Pauline Hanson’s radical plan to blitz cane toads
Cane toads are spreading like a disease throughout Australia, killing native wildlife and causing serious environmental damage. But Pauline Hanson has come up with a plan to tackle the vermin — and it involves the average person earning a quick buck.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WORK for the Dole recipients would earn their welfare by killing cane toads under a Pauline Hanson plan that includes a bounty on the loathed menace.
Just like the container deposit scheme, the One Nation leader has called for a three-month, summer collect-a-toad campaign.
OPINION: HANSON’S PLAN ON THE MONEY
DOGS KEEP ISLAND FREE OF TOADS
Under the federally funded plan to be run in Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, 10 cents would be paid for each toad, which would be taken to council collection zones where they would be put it a freezer to be killed. She said that kids should be encouraged to put their iPads down and make a few bucks by collecting toads while doing something worthwhile for the environment.
It is estimated there are 200 million cane toads in Australia. The vermin, which is killing native wildlife and spreading like a disease throughout the country, are causing serious environmental damage across swathes of Australia.
In parts of north Queensland, thousands of cane toads blanket backyards every night, and during the wet season, their numbers explode.
Senator Hanson has written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking him to support the plan and to focus on a national, long-term strategy to get rid of the cane toad.
“When rabbits plagued our nation, a sizeable reward was posted for the biological control of the species,’’ Senator Hanson told Mr Morrison.
“Other invasive species such as European carp have been eradicated from waterways using biological measures and I believe it is time our federal parliament takes a swift, bipartisan approach into the eradication of this pest species.
“I would also encourage you to introduce a three-month bounty over summer months to help reduce the breeding numbers.
“A 10 cent reward for the collection of each cane toad … would encourage most Australians living with the pest to take an active role in reducing their numbers until a biological measure is developed.”
Senator Hanson’s idea comes as the Morrison Government slammed Labor’s new welfare plans, which water down the Coalition’s stringent principles that jobseekers are expected to earn their dole payments by looking for work or educating themselves to get a job.
Under a Shorten government, the unemployed would no longer have to apply for 20 jobs a month.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott tweeted yesterday: “People on unemployment benefits are supposed to be looking for work. Applying for one job a day is hardly unreasonable.
“These proposed changes show Labor is now the welfare class party not the working class one.”
Separately, Senator Hanson told The Courier-Mail that Work for the Dole recipients could be dispatched to do something worthwhile for their communities.
A federal parliamentary inquiry was set up in November last year to “examine the effectiveness of control measures to limit the spread of cane toads across Australia”. Hearings will start in Canberra from mid-February.
The Sunday Quiz: Who created Dame Edna Everage?
Where was the Great Emu War? Which planet is closest to the sun? What year did Shane Warne die? Put your knowledge of trivia to the test with The Sunday Quiz.
‘All actions considered’: Qld nurses willing to strike over pay offer
The state’s biggest union, covering nurses and midwives, has not ruled out taking strike action if the government refuses to budge on its latest pay offer.