Having recently written about wildlife sharing our space, this week I’m prompted to write about space invaders of another sort - invasive species, particularly exotic weeds, and our ongoing contribution to that problem.
Governments at all levels across Australia spend a small fortune promoting the need to prevent weeds spreading into our environment, formulating weed management plans and educating the public on how to deal with them. However, when it comes to the crunch, the failure to manage weeds is most predominant on land owned and/or managed by those very governments.
Not only are government agencies failing to manage invasive weeds on public land, they are actively spreading them, often through sheer negligence.
In just the last month I have encountered two such cases in our own district. The first was a case of recent road maintenance in Yuraygir National Park near Brooms Head, where introduced gravel and rocks have brought with them a variety of weeds including the highly invasive grass species, Setaria.
Originally introduced to Australia as a pasture grass, the two metre-tall Setaria is now one of the more invasive species on the North Coast, and at Brooms Head has now invaded over 10 metres either side of the road, extending along the road for hundreds of metres, ably assisted by the excessive soil disturbance that occurred during the process.
The second case is along Rushforth Road where a particularly nasty invasive weed, Singapore Daisy, has been brought in by excavators undertaking repairs to water mains.
Unfortunately, despite extensive government funded advertising telling us how to prevent the spread of weeds, including not dumping garden waste, and ensuring earth-moving machines and slashers are cleaned before moving to new areas, these are two of the biggest problems. However, while dumping is illegal, there are no strict, legally enforceable protocols in place for the latter. Why not?
The NSW Department of Primary Industries strongly recommends we follow best practice guidelines for weed hygiene, including thorough cleaning of machinery. Is it too much to expect our governments to set an example?
- John Edwards
Originally published under the title "Space Invaders Two" in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent ,19 March, 2025.
