Weed management




Status:

Advice provided

Advice date:

May 2014

Summary

Through a Terms of Reference, the Minister for Primary Industries asked the Commission to undertake an independent evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of weed management arrangements in NSW with a view to inform the development of the proposed NSW Biosecurity Act, and other relevant strategies under the NSW Biosecurity Strategy.

For the purpose of this review, "weeds" were defined as both introduced and native species but are limited to terrestrial and freshwater aquatic species only.

In order to ensure the Terms of Reference were met, the Commission established a steering committee consisting of Cr Reg Kidd, Chair of the Noxious Weeds Advisory Committee, Dr Bruce Christie of Biosecurity NSW, and Mr Mick O'Flynn of the Office of Environment and Heritage.

In October 2013, the Commission released an issues paper to clarify priority issues and seek public views. The Commission's draft report, released in February 2014, outlined draft findings and recommendations, and invited public submissions. The Commission received 206 submissions in response to the issues paper and 109 submissions in response to the draft report. The Commission also conducted seven public meetings in March 2014 to consult with stakeholders and the public.

In May 2014, the Commission submitted a final report to the Minister for Primary Industries outlining a comprehensive package of recommendations. The recommendations focused on avoiding future costs by improving prevention, early detection and rapid response, while ensuring consistent compliance across tenures and rebuilding research and development capacity.

The Commission also commissioned Grain Growers Limited to complete a review of the economic impacts of weeds to support the weed management review.

In May 2017, the Government provided its response to the Commission's recommendations in the final report.

In June 2014, the Department of Primary Industries released the proposed Framework for a NSW Biosecurity Act. The Commission provided a submission informed by the findings from its weed management review.

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