Gamba Grass Plan a welcome commitment – further funding needed to ensure success

Following the release of the NT Government’s Weed Management Plan: Gamba Grass 2020-2030, the Gamba Grass Roots alliance has welcomed the initiative and thanked Environment Minister Eva Lawler and Chief Minister Michael Gunner for this milestone.

“The new Gamba Plan is much stronger than what was previously in place, and that’s the result of strong, sustained community pressure on the Government to do more. We welcome the Government responding with a new and improved plan” said Mitch Hart, NT Manager for Pew Charitable Trusts.

“This is thanks to the hundreds of Territorians who had their say on this plan to make sure the government keeps pressing ahead with action on Gamba.“

“The new Gamba Plan demonstrates that this Government understands the scale of the problem and is finally mapping the scale of Gamba in the Top End to get on top of it. But alongside this roadmap, we need to have the funding necessary to see it implemented.”

The new plans include:

• A clear timeline and policy plan to eradicate Gamba Grass from the Eradication Zone.
• New annual reporting, including more performance tracking for government and more compliance measures for irresponsible landholders.
• A commitment to more action on Crown Land and in Litchfield National Park.
• A plan to eradicate Gamba on all transport corridors, like roads, by July 2023.  Continuation of measures like the 15 metre gamba-free buffer on rural blocks of land, designed to maintain fire safety in the rural area.
• A commitment to develop a communications plan by July 2021. This is a sign that the Government understands the important role of the community turning the tide against Gamba.

“All of this is a good step in the right direction but we must ensure that the funding allocation is adequate to tackle this in the long-term.”

“Without ongoing money or staff, we’ll run the risk of not achieving the goals set out in the Government’s own policies.”

“Community concerns have been heard loud and clear, that’s obvious in this plan. But now this community needs to see ongoing action from their Government, and that means proper funding to tackle the Gamba crisis once and for all.”

The full plan can be accessed at http://nt.gov.au/gamba.