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Biosecurity gaps led to 36 invasive species entering Australia since 2000
Invasive Species Council says Australia has not heeded lessons from decision to introduce cane toad in Queensland in 1935
theguardian.com, Friday 24 October 2014 03.48 BST
Large gaps in Australia’s biosecurity regime have led to 36 invasive species entering the country since 2000, with potentially ruinous consequences for the environment, documents lodged with the Senate have warned.
Creatures such as the yellow crazy ant, the red-eared slider turtle and the smooth newt have either established themselves in Australia or threaten to do so, while Mexican feathergrass and Myrtle rust pose a threat to Australia’s plant life.
The Invasive Species Council has warned that Australia has not heeded the lessons from the decision to introduce the cane toad in Queensland in 1935, a move that has proved disastrous for native mammals and snakes in northern Australia.
“We’re not looking hard enough at what’s coming in and we’re looking for the wrong things,” Andrew Cox, chief executive of the council, told Guardian Australia.
“There are big holes in biosecurity. We haven’t even identified the most likely entry points for these things. The track record of the past 15 years suggests we are merrily continuing the mistakes of the past.”
The council says there have been four incursions of red imported fire ants since they were first sighted near Brisbane in 2001. The South American fire ants’ sting can prove fatal to humans and they have a voracious appetite for native spiders, lizards, frogs and birds, with the potential to damage the ecosystem over time.
Meanwhile, the yellow crazy ant, named for its erratic walking style, has already been blamed for decimating the unique red crab population on Christmas Island and now poses a threat to birds, animals and plants on mainland Australia.
Mexican feathergrass, a durable weed which the NSW government fears may spread to 65% of the state, is entering Australia via eBay-based traders, the council warns, while attempts to eradicate the Asian honey bee have failed.
Other threats include a pigeon virus, the smooth newt and the red-eared slider turtle, which is kept as an exotic pet but could be established by being released into the environment by owners.
The Invasive Species Council also warns that four serious invasive threats are set to descend upon Australia unless action is taken. They are pathogens of wattles, fish parasites, a disease that infects captive parrots and the green iguana, which is regularly imported illegally. There is also now a “high likelihood” of the Asian black-spined toad establishing itself in Australia, with the animal being intercepted about 10 times a year.
The council has provided documents to an ongoing Senate inquiry into environmental biosecurity. Cox said more must be done if Australia’s environment is to be protected from a new wave of threats.
“You’d think we’d learn our lessons from the cane toad and rabbits and foxes, but we clearly haven’t accepted we need to change our ways,” he said. “The rates of new weeds getting into the wild is increasing at around 20 a year.
“This requires the environment minister to play a more central role in biosecurity, rather than the focus just being on threats to agriculture. We aren’t thinking about the impact on the natural world.
“We accept quarantine in other areas but there is no quarantine for pests that may spread into the environment. We need better science around it and also better surveillance, so that people at the airport are properly checked to see if they have seeds or animals on them.
“There is so much more movement in the world today and if we aren’t careful we’ll lose so many plants and animals that make Australia unique.”
A separate submission by the Great Barrier Reef marine park authority said the reef’s islands have been beset by a number of invasive species, such as fire ants, black rats and goats.
The GBRMPA said the detection and response to these threats is “generally deficient”.
“There is a response plan for introduced pests, but not for surveillance, management and prevention,” it said. “This is considered to be a significant deficiency, as the focus should be upon minimising risk for introduction in the first instance and early detection in the second instance.”
In its submission, the NSW government said Australia’s biosecurity arrangements are “complicated” and need to be improved.
“Good surveillance of key risk pathways and rapid response capability are also important,” the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage stated. “While such measures are relatively well developed for biosecurity threats to primary industries and health, they are less developed for threats to the natural environment.”
Invasive species enter Australia directly via airports and ports, as well as the pet trade. The Department of the Environment lists threats to native species but Cox says little is done to activate plans to tackle invasive species, with the main responsibility for biosecurity falling under the agriculture portfolio.
Greens senator Rachel Siewart said: “We shouldn’t take our eye off the ball in terms of agriculture but we need to elevate our involvement in environmental invasives as well.
“We are often too slow to respond and then the response is only when invasives are threatening agriculture. In a changing climate it’s even more important we keep an eye on this because we’re seeing species pop up where we’ve never seen them before.”
Greg Hunt, the environment minister, had not responded to questions on the issue at the time of publication.