Greens back parliamentary petition calling for ban on ‘inhumane’ 1080 poison
A Tasmanian Greens-backed petition calling for the ban of 1080 poison has gathered nearly 1300 signatures, as farmers defend its restricted use.
Calls have re-emerged to introduce a blanket ban on 1080 poison in Tasmania amid growing tensions over its proposed use on the state’s feral deer populations.
The Tasmanian Greens are sponsoring a petition calling on the state government to immediately ban its use while also supporting landholders to adopt human and sustainable alternatives.
As of November 2 the petition had attracted nearly 1300 signatures.
It will close submissions on November 6.
Greens MP Tabatha Badger said its use was increasingly becoming a matter of concern for the community.
“Hundreds of thousands of animals, native and introduced, are killed each year under Tasmania’s non-transparent Property Protection Permit system, which permits the use of 1080 poison,” Ms Badger said.
“1080 doesn’t just kill the target species; it kills anything that ingests it, including pets and livestock. It causes a slow and painful death and has no place in modern wildlife management.
“Continuing to rely on 1080 is outdated and ignores the safer, more sustainable options that already exist.”
A plan to phase out the use of 1080 poison, or sodium fluoroacetate, was proposed in Tasmania in 2004 but was abandoned in 2014 by the incoming Liberal government.
Ms Badger said viable alternatives – including property maintained fencing, improved land management practices, and target trapping – existed but were dismissed in favour of 1080 because it is cheap.
TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman said farmers often bore the cost of such initiatives, adding that 1080 poison was a “tool of last resort” used under strict controls.
“(1080 poison) is used only when other forms of protecting crops and pastures haven’t been successful or aren’t suitable. Where it is used, the permit system is heavily regulated to ensure unintended consequences are controlled, and its use is only as per directions and for the specific purpose,” Mr Calman said.
“1080 poison remains a tool that should be available … only when there is a clear imbalance in wildlife populations causing significant economic or environmental harm to Tasmania’s agricultural community.”
It comes after the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Chair slammed TasFarmers’ push to classify wild fallow deer as pests, condemning it as a thinly-veiled effort to expand the use of 1080 poison.
They reiterated calls for its prohibition.
Mr Calman said his focus was urging the government to simplify the permit process for farmers.
“Current regulations around deer management in Tasmania do not give producers access to the full range of tools they need,” he said.
“We believe the first logical step is to make those tools available. Then, down the track, we can evaluate whether any additional controls are required.”
1080 poison works by stopping an animal’s cells from making energy, causing organ failure and death usually within a few hours.
It is banned in the United States and across most of Europe.
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Originally published as Greens back parliamentary petition calling for ban on ‘inhumane’ 1080 poison
