“Turn the tap off before you mop up the spill” - preventing the sale and naturalisation of additional weed species in Queensland

Abstract

At least half of Queensland’s major weed species are escaped garden ornamentals. Hence, statutory restrictions on the import and post-border sale of potentially invasive plant species are an integral part of the fight against weeds. While a substantial number of weed species have naturalised in Queensland, a significant number of species that are major weeds overseas are currently absent. Many of these ‘high-risk’ species are traded as garden ornamentals overseas and are climatically well-suited to Queensland. The Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has assessed thousands of potentially invasive weed species from around the world and has put in place pre-emptive regulations to prohibit the sale of more than 900 species of plants considered to have the potential to become major weeds in Queensland. These post-border restrictions complement import restrictions applied at the national border to effectively remove the commercial incentive to smuggle the seeds of high-risk species into Queensland. Moreover, these restrictions block a primary invasion pathway for new weed species into Queensland.