Buffel weed categorisation awaits as declaration labelled ‘irresponsible’ by NTCA, ‘cynical’ by opposition leader

The declaration of an invasive weed by the Territory government has been labelled as “irresponsible” and “cynical” by the peak body for cattlemen and the opposition party. Find out why.

The Northern Territory cattle industry in action. Picture: Nicole Hayes

The Territory government’s declaration of an invasive weed has drawn criticism from the peak body for cattlemen and the opposition party, as the environment minister says the government hasn’t made a declaration on the weed’s classification.

Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association chief executive Will Evans said buffel grass being declared a weed by the Northern Territory was “not only shocking, it is outright irresponsible”.

“For more than 12 months the NTCA has attempted to work constructively with government on determining a pathway forward for addressing the protection of ‘areas of significance’ from buffel grass incursion,” he said.

“This work is nowhere near complete.”

Mr Evans said none of Territory’s 50 declared weeds received enough funding to adequately address their impact to the environment – and none of those 50 declared weeds had been eradicated either.

“None of them are even close to being as widespread as buffel,” he said.

“This is a plant species that has spread across tens of thousands of square kilometres of regional and remote Northern Territory.

“When you consider that one of the recommended methods to remove buffel is to dig it out with a shovel, the challenges for those wishing to do so are apparent.”

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro. Picture: Fia Walsh.

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said without more detail the declaration was “just a cynical political move”.

“After eight years they’ve (the Labor government) failed to get on top of this issue and to do it six weeks out before an election, is it going to change anything for people in Central Australia?” she said.

“We know buffel is widespread and it’s causing serious concerns to threat to property and of course with fires but also pastoralists and other people really rely on it for feedstock for hay.”

Mr Evans said buffel grass is unmatched for its ability to mitigate soil erosion, and said the NTCA “has attempted to work constructively” with the Territory government through the Weed Advisory Committee (WAC).

“This work is nowhere near complete. The WAC was appointed for three years. So far it has only had a handful of meetings,” he said.

“The work of the WAC was to determine what costs would be associated with even attempting to undertake restricting the spread.

“As of today, it has not. Estimates for activities just within the Alice Springs town area range beyond $10m a year.”

Environment, Climate Change and Water Security minister Kate Worden said declaring buffel grass a weed “allows us to cohesively address the issues surrounding buffel grass”.

“We have not made a declaration on a classification,” she said.

“A decision needed to be made and something had to be done about buffel.”

Ms Worden said the WAC included representatives from the NTCA and from pastoral land boards, and the NTCA supported “the strategy”.

“To ignore the issue would be to ignore Alice Springs,” she said.