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Froggatt Awards

Our Work   |  Froggatt Awards  |  2015 Awards

Froggatt Awards 2015

In 2015 our Froggatt Awards recognised the exceptional efforts of four Queenslanders in their fight to eradicate yellow crazy ants from the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

A Froggatt was also given to federal minister Barnaby Joyce for enforcing Australia’s strict quarantine laws after discovering actor Johnny Depp’s dogs Pistol and Boo had been brought into the country in an apparent breach of quarantine laws.

Standing up to Johnny Depp was not enough to earn a Froggatt on its own, but Mr Joyce’s award was guaranteed when he implemented new controls to limit marine biofouling on vessels arriving in Australia

Response teams in NSW received a gong for their rapid and effective effort in eliminating red imported fire ants from Port Botany, in Sydney.

In the policy and law category the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee has been recognised for its inquiry into environmental biosecurity and their final report.

The Froggatt Awards are named in honour of Australian entomologist Walter Froggatt, a lone voice in the 1930s warning of the dangers of releasing the cane toad into Australia as a control agent for beetle infestations in the sugar cane industry.

At the time Walter wrote that ‘this great toad, immune from enemies, omnivorous in its habits, and breeding all year round, may become as great a pest as the rabbit or cactus’.

Invasive Species Council CEO Andrew Cox (back) presents Froggatt Awards to (L-R) Cairns Post journalist Daniel Bateman, Wet Tropics Management Authority’s Lucy Karger, James Cook University’s Dr Lori Lach and Edmonton cane farmer Frank Teodo for their work on yellow crazy ants in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Photo: Jaana DIelenberg

Our 2015 Froggatt Award in the communications category was presented to Daniel Bateman, Lucy Karger, Lori Lach and Frank Teodo for raising awareness about yellow crazy ant eradication from Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

Principled decision-making

Awarded to Australian Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, for acting quickly and decisively in expelling Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s dogs, Pistol and Boo, which had been brought into Australia in an apparent breach of the country’s strict quarantine laws. The award also recognises his decision in December to introduce mandatory biofouling rules to prevent marine pests entering Australia.

Communication

Awarded to Lucy Karger (Wet Tropics Management Authority yellow crazy ant eradication project), Dr Lori Lach (research fellow, James Cook University), Daniel Bateman (journalist, Cairns Post) and Frank Teodo (an Edmonton cane farmer) for exceptional efforts to eradicate yellow crazy ants from the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Without these tireless efforts few people would appreciate the danger posed by the highly invasive and environmentally destructive yellow crazy ant.

Control

Awarded to the NSW red imported fire ant response, for rapid and effective effort in eliminating red imported fire ants from Port Botany in Sydney.

The response involved mobilisation of government staff and volunteers, extensive community education and support from interstate colleagues as soon as the aggressive red imported fire ants were discovered.

The award acknowledges coordination by Biosecurity NSW and extensive efforts by staff from Department of Primary Industries, Local Land Services and Office of Environment and Heritage and volunteers from Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service.

Policy and law

Awarded to the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee, for their work on the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee inquiry into environmental biosecurity and the final report, an insightful coverage of a complex issue with cross-party recommendations aimed at improving Australia’s preparedness against invasive species impacting the environment.

  • Senator Anne Urquhart, Chair ALP, Tasmania
  • Senator Anne Ruston, Deputy Chair Liberal Party, South Australia
  • Senator Joe Bullock, ALP, Western Australia
  • Senator James McGrath, Liberal Party, Queensland
  • Senator Lisa Singh, ALP, Tasmania
  • Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens, Queensland

In 2020 we saw some outstanding efforts from the winners of our annual Froggatt Awards.

In 2019 our Froggatt Awards went to Southern Downs Regional Council, Milo Yeigh and to the Hon David Littleproud.

In 2018 our Froggatt Awards went to community group Save Kosci, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Tarrangower Cactus Control Group.

In 2017 our Froggatt Awards went to the independent panel reviewing the national biosecurity system and Nic Gill, author of Animal Eco-Warriors: Humans and Animals Working Together to Protect Our Planet.

In 2016 our Froggatt Awards went to Gregory Andrews, Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner, SPRATS, the Sea Spurge Action Teams and Ecology Australia.

In 2015 our Froggatt Awards went to Australian Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, NSW red imported fire ant response and Senate Environment and Communications References Committee.

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]