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New Queensland government makes important invasive species commitments

The Invasive Species Council welcomes the new Queensland government and commends Premier David Crisafulli on his commitment to tackling invasive species, ensuring Queensland’s unique wildlife and landscapes are better protected from the invasive species mega threat. 

These commitments reflect priorities outlined in the Invasive Species Council’s blueprint for action, which we campaigned for in the lead-up to the Queensland election. 

‘The commitments made by the incoming Queensland government represent an important step forward in strengthening Queensland’s biosecurity, conservation efforts and invasive species management,’ Invasive Species Council Advocacy Manager Reece Pianta said. 

‘Queensland is home to 85% of Australia’s native mammals, 72% of native birds, and more than 11,000 plant species, many of which are under increasing threat.

‘The state is also an invasion hotspot, with more invasive species than any other in Australia. 

‘Queensland’s biosecurity system has long been slow to respond to environmental threats, with frontline agencies understaffed and overstretched. That’s why these new commitments are so significant.’

Key commitments secured from the new Queensland government:

  • 150 new Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers to strengthen on-ground conservation efforts.
  • A $50 million increase in Biosecurity Queensland funding to tackle invasive species threats.
  • $118 million for Natural Resource Management (NRM) to support habitat restoration and conservation projects.
  • A strong commitment to bolstering fire ant eradication efforts (with new funding as yet undetermined).
  • An additional $6 million for 2 more years of yellow crazy ant eradication in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
  • 100 new biosecurity officers to enhance the state’s capacity to detect and respond to invasive species.

‘These commitments will bolster frontline capacity and ensure continued funding to defend the Wet Tropics against yellow crazy ants. During the election campaign, the Invasive Species Council highlighted the urgent need for action on feral animals, weeds and biosecurity and we are pleased to see the new government stepping up to the challenge.

‘We look forward to working closely with the Queensland government to ensure these commitments are implemented effectively and to pursue further reforms, including improved invasive species management in national parks, action on escalating feral deer populations, mitigation of invasive freshwater fish, a permitted list for weedy plants, increased funding for prevention and biocontrol research, and long-overdue biosecurity system reform.

‘The commitments made by the new government mark a critical step in the right direction, and we are eager to help turn these promises into action.’

Media Inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

Related Content

Queensland election scorecard: Policy commitments on yellow crazy ants, feral deer and weeds.
Qld Election: Crazy ants, feral deer and rampant weeds
Protecting Queensland from Invasive Species: Priorities for the next Queensland Government
Feral cat illustration
Invasion timeline

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Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]


Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]