Burgoyne's buffel weed decision condemned

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Arid Lands Environment Centre condemns Minister Joshua Burgoyne's catastrophic buffel grass decision that caves to industry lobbying and puts his own community at risk, by continuing to permit the sale, trade and planting of buffel grass across the Northern Territory’s pastoral leases.

Buffel grass does not recognise fence lines and artificial boundaries. It is a highly invasive weed that devastates arid environments and communities across Australia and the world.

The life and colour of the arid lands is suffocating in buffel grass before it all goes up in flames.

Earlier this year, the Environment Minister stacked the Buffel Grass Weed Advisory Committee with greater pastoral representation after extensive industry lobbying, and ALEC understands he has now made a decision that ignores the majority-backed recommendation made by the Buffel Grass Weed Advisory Committee, and instead adopts the minority pastoral position.

Limiting and regulating the sale, trade and planting of seed in the NT is the bare minimum, and this is a grave backwards step on the government’s commitment to managing buffel grass as a weed.

It has been really great to see buffel grass funding and work occurring here in Central Australia since weed declaration last year, but this decision undermines this positive work that can make a real difference!

Alex Vaughan

Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Arid Lands Environment Centre.

UPDATE 22/12/25

The image below shows the predicted potential distribution of buffel grass in Australia based on climate and soils model showing herbarium and miscellaneous specimen records for Australia. Image provided by Mike Gillam (see reader’s comment).