The exotic pest fall armyworm - which has the potential to destroy crops overnight - has been detected for the first time in Australia.
The exotic pest fall armyworm - which has the potential to destroy crops overnight - has been detected for the first time in Australia.
The exotic pest fall armyworm - which has the potential to destroy crops overnight - has been detected for the first time in Australia.
An exotic caterpillar with the potential to decimate crops overnight has been detected in Australia for the first time.Authorities have located the fall armyworm larvae on the northern Torres Strait islands of Saibai and Erub.
The pest originates from the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, but has spread rapidly to other parts of the world since 2016.
It is known to eat more than 350 plant species including maize, cotton, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, wheat and vegetable and fruit crops.
Without control measures it can destroy crops overnight when population levels are high.
The fall armyworm is different to other types of armyworm commonly found in southern Australia.
The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is working with the Australian Government, and with industry groups and communities, to assess the distribution and threat of the pest, and develop a response strategy.
Biosecurity Queensland says it will also work closely with traditional land owners in the region to control the movement of plant and soil between the islands and the mainland, and between Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands.
Anthony Sampieri has been sentenced to life in prison for his brutal rape on a seven-year-old girl in a Kogarah dance studio.
There were gasps and cheers from the parents who were stabbed by the rapist as they rushed to save his victim when District court judge Paul Conlon handed Sampieri the maximum penalty today.
Read The Daily Telegraph's coverage of the verdict here:
The 56-year-old has pleaded guilty to 10 charges related to the attack including three counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.
He's also admitted to charges related to sexually explicit and harassing phone calls he made to women in the months before the Kogarah attack.
Sampieri is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday by Acting Judge Paul Conlon in the Downing Centre District Court.
Sampieri – on parole at the time for a Wollongong rape – raped, punched and bound the girl in the toilets after consuming the drug ice.
"Using crystal meth I believe that led me to what I did," Sampieri told a sentence hearing last week.