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Committee's report

The committee tabled its report on 6 December 2019. The report can be accessed here.

About the inquiry

During the 55^th Parliament the Agriculture and Environment Committee (AEC) undertook an inquiry into the impacts of invasive plants (weeds) and their control in Queensland.

The former AEC resolved to report specifically on whether:

• the responsibilities of local governments in relation to the control of prohibited, restricted and invasive plants imposed under s 48 of the Biosecurity Act 2014 (Biosecurity Act) are reasonable, and local governments are meeting those obligations
• programs for the control of weeds on Crown land administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) are effective
• Biosecurity Queensland’s weed programs, including biological controls and new technologies, are adequately funded and effective at controlling weeds
• environmental programs administered by Department of Environment and Heritage Protection impact favourably on weed control programs administered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and local governments, and
• federal, state and local government weed programs are coordinated to maximise their achievements and to have a whole of government approach.

As it was not possible to examine government programs for all weeds, the AEC resolved to examine the impact of three invasive plant species and their control as case studies for the inquiry:

• prickly acacia (Vachellia nilotica)
• giant rat’s tail grass (GRT) (Sporobolus pyramidalis and Sporobolus natalensis), and
• fireweed (Senecio madagascariensis).

The AEC received 60 public submissions on the inquiry and held 6 public hearings across Queensland. The AEC inquiry can be accessed here.

The AEC were not able to finalise its report on the inquiry before the 55^th Parliament was dissolved for the 2017 Queensland state election.

In the 56^th Parliament the portfolio area of Agriculture was overseen by the State Development, Natural Resources and Agricultural Industry Development Committee (committee).

Given the importance of the work of the AEC, the significance of the inquiry topic, and the high level of public interest, the committee considered the value in finalising this inquiry.

In accordance with s.92(d) of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001, the committee has resolved to finalise the inquiry of the former AEC and report to Parliament on the impacts of invasive plants (weeds) and their control in Queensland.

Timeline

Public briefing: Monday 10 June 2019 - Transcript - Broadcast part 1 - part 2