Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the second week in October is National Weedbuster Week,

(ii)

weeds seriously deplete biodiversity and cost the Australian economy approximately $4 billion per year,

(iii)

climate change, as stated at the 15th Australian Weeds Conference, will make weed management increasingly more difficult, with sleeper weeds and warmer conditions leading to the habitat expansion of some weed species,

(iv)

funding for the Defeating the Weed Menace Programme ends in the 2007-08 financial year, and

(v)

the Weeds cooperative research centre ends its current term in 2008; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

consider extending the Defeating the Weed Menace Programme beyond its current term with an increase in its scope and funding base, and

(ii)

fulfil its promise to fund a program to increase public awareness of the weed problem in Australia.

Question agreed to.