Stuart Highway spraying of Gamba Grass
WRITTEN QUESTIONS
9th Assembly
16/07/2004
146. Stuart Highway spraying of Gamba Grass
Mr Wood to MINISTER for Transport and Infrastructure
QUESTION1. In the last few weeks of June 2004, employees from the Department were Gamba Grass up and down the Stuart Highway–
(a) why was Gamba Grass being sprayed at this time of the year, when it was seeding; or
(b) was it simply because some money had to be spent before the end of the financial year.
ANSWERAnswered on 16/08/2004
Sections of the Stuart Highway, south of the Arnhem Highway intersection were sprayed to control infestations of gamba grass in the weeks prior to May, 2004.
Residual Federal funds were used to control large old gamba grass stools at the flowering stage before they fully seeded. While the timing to proceed with spraying was not considered optimum, killing the mature stools provides value for money in that small seeds germinating in the coming year would be easier to kill with spraying time and the amount of herbicide used reduced.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016