Mr KNIGHT - 2005-08-18
Can you tell us about tonight’s cane toad muster and what you hope to achieve for cane toad control in the Top End?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question, because we are all worried about cane toads. Today, 70 years to the day, cane toads were released into Australia. The Territory is facing one of the most serious environmental threats to our ecosystems and wildlife. The Northern Territory government is determined to protect our unique and precious environment from the spread of this toxic pest. We have moved the whole nation ahead on this very serious threat to our unique environment. So far, we have spent $1.2m to battle the toads, including $420 000 to FrogWatch to run a unique community-based campaign, the toad muster, which I will touch on shortly.
The federal government has listed cane toads as a key threatening species. Along with us, the governments of Queensland, Western Australia, the Commonwealth are working together in a coordinated way through the National Cane Toad Task Force; the Western Australia government taking unprecedented action by investing cane toad control in the Northern Territory, which is outside its formal jurisdiction.
None of this happened by accident; it happened because of the hard work of government. I give credit to the previous Minister for Parks and Wildlife, the member for Johnston, who did a lot of work in getting this issue on to the national agenda, and also for the hard work that our Parks and Wildlife staff have done. Much of our intergovernmental work is directed towards long-term solutions such as the biological control, and rightly so. From the outset, government has been very keen to harness the groundswell of community sentiment that says: ‘We do not want cane toads and we want to do something about it’. That is why we have backed FrogWatch, which are doing some fantastic work. We also ran the trap competition, which is why we are now introducing a subsidy for traps to make them more affordable.
Tonight’s cane toad muster is a major community project which encourages Top End residents to check their yards and nearby parks for cane toads at the same time. The information should be called through or e-mailed to FrogWatch. If everyone can get out with their torches and have a look - it is quite fun I am sure. It is something families can do, and kids can get their torches out and have a look. FrogWatch are promoting where this information can be sent through to them, because that will provide valuable input and help FrogWatch organise future toad musters in the Dry. I urge all Territorians to get out their torches and to spend the time mustering these horrible little cane toads.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question, because we are all worried about cane toads. Today, 70 years to the day, cane toads were released into Australia. The Territory is facing one of the most serious environmental threats to our ecosystems and wildlife. The Northern Territory government is determined to protect our unique and precious environment from the spread of this toxic pest. We have moved the whole nation ahead on this very serious threat to our unique environment. So far, we have spent $1.2m to battle the toads, including $420 000 to FrogWatch to run a unique community-based campaign, the toad muster, which I will touch on shortly.
The federal government has listed cane toads as a key threatening species. Along with us, the governments of Queensland, Western Australia, the Commonwealth are working together in a coordinated way through the National Cane Toad Task Force; the Western Australia government taking unprecedented action by investing cane toad control in the Northern Territory, which is outside its formal jurisdiction.
None of this happened by accident; it happened because of the hard work of government. I give credit to the previous Minister for Parks and Wildlife, the member for Johnston, who did a lot of work in getting this issue on to the national agenda, and also for the hard work that our Parks and Wildlife staff have done. Much of our intergovernmental work is directed towards long-term solutions such as the biological control, and rightly so. From the outset, government has been very keen to harness the groundswell of community sentiment that says: ‘We do not want cane toads and we want to do something about it’. That is why we have backed FrogWatch, which are doing some fantastic work. We also ran the trap competition, which is why we are now introducing a subsidy for traps to make them more affordable.
Tonight’s cane toad muster is a major community project which encourages Top End residents to check their yards and nearby parks for cane toads at the same time. The information should be called through or e-mailed to FrogWatch. If everyone can get out with their torches and have a look - it is quite fun I am sure. It is something families can do, and kids can get their torches out and have a look. FrogWatch are promoting where this information can be sent through to them, because that will provide valuable input and help FrogWatch organise future toad musters in the Dry. I urge all Territorians to get out their torches and to spend the time mustering these horrible little cane toads.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016