Sticky florestina biosecurity breach concerns Winton Shire Council

A biosecurity alert has gone out to Winton residents when council staff discovered that the hay, believed to have been produced in the Longreach region on a private property, came from paddocks containing the invasive plant.

The shire is now scrambling to ascertain how far and wide the bales have been distributed, in order to contain the possible spread of the weed and mitigate its impact on the local ecosystem.

Sticky florestina is known to have been present in central and western Queensland since at least the 1980s, with the main regions of infestation being around Blackall, Tambo, Barcaldine and Longreach, with some records of the plant from Charleville and Mitchell.

Landholders in the Barcaldine and Tambo regions spoke out in 2019 about the need to keep a lid on sticky florestina plants that were spreading throughout the region.

Until now, the Winton shire has been free of the weed, which has the potential to colonise large tracts of grazing land.

It can produce seed banks comparable to parthenium, particularly in dense infestations, and the banks' life span could also match parthenium's persistence.

Winton mayor Gavin Baskett said they discovered the issue when council members were taking part in a rural lands officers meeting in Longreach, where it was raised that contaminated bales had been transported into the Winton shire with no biosecurity matter hygiene declaration.

"The Longreach Regional Council is currently aware of the situation as well, and we are awaiting their response for further guidance on managing this biosecurity concern," the Winton council alert read.

In the meantime, it is urging individuals to take proactive measures when purchasing hay bales, by ensuring they obtain a weed declaration form to verify the quality and safety of the bales.

Cr Baskett said they needed sticky florestina to be declared a restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act of 2014.

"We believe this declaration is essential to raise awareness of this invasive plant, to introduce compliance measures that may be necessary, and to mobilise government support for control measures," he said.

"If these institutional measures are activated quickly, it may be possible to prevent sticky florestina from becoming a national, long-term management challenge across Australia's semi-arid zone."