2016-06-23
The Greens committed in Cairns today to a $17.5 million package to secure full funding for the first stage of the Wet Tropics Management Authority’s proposed yellow crazy ant eradication program.
In Cairns today, Greens Senate Candidate, Andrew Bartlett, who will be based in North Queensland if elected, said:
“We need to break the logjam. Labor and the LNP have committed 50% of the funding of the highly successful community-based eradication program proposed by the experts, and the State government has committed 20%.
“The Greens would commit $17.5 million over four years to provide the full funding required to protect our immensely valuable Wet Tropics.
“This World Heritage area is a major tourist drawcard for Far North Queensland, and the longer funding is delayed, the greater the risk the incursion will spread.
“With a deadline looming in July, we need ensure that the first 3-year stage of the program can commence immediately, with $5 million per year.
“Ongoing funding would be $2.5 million per year until the project is complete and the Wet Tropics are spared this impending biosecurity disaster.
“As well as stamping out individual infestations, we also need tougher measures to help our biosecurity system stop new incursions of yellow crazy ants and other tramp ants.
“We can afford to protect our tourism icons by raising revenue, including by ending the $21 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies the big mining companies get as hand outs.
“Whether it’s safeguarding the Wet Tropics or saving the Great Barrier Reef, the Greens take protecting tourism jobs seriously,” Mr Bartlett said.