Terms of Reference

Inquiry into the regulation, control and management of invasive species and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Invasive Species) Bill 2002

Terms of Reference

Information about the Bill

The Senate has referred the above matters to the Committee for inquiry and report on the 25 November 2004.

The terms of reference are:

(1)   The regulation, control and management of invasive species, being non-native flora and fauna that may threaten biodiversity, with particular reference to:

(a)   the nature and extent of the threat that invasive species pose to the Australian environment and economy;

(b)   the estimated cost of different responses to the environmental issues associated with invasive species, including early eradication, containment, damage mitigation and inaction, with particular focus on:

(i)      the following pests:

(A) European fox (Vulpes vulpes),
(B) yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes),
(C) fire ant (Solenopsis invicta),
(D) cane toad (Bufo marinus), and
(E) feral cat (Felis catus) and pig (Sus scrofa), and

(ii)      the following weeds:

(A) mimosa (Mimosa pigra),
(B) serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma),
(C) willow (Salix spp.),
(D) lantana (Lantana camara),
(E) blackberry (Rubus fruticosus agg.), and
(F) parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata);

(c)   the adequacy and effectiveness of the current Commonwealth, state and territory statutory and administrative arrangements for the regulation and control of invasive species;

(d)   the effectiveness of Commonwealth-funded measures to control invasive species; and

(e)   whether the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Invasive Species) Bill 2002 could assist in improving the current statutory and administrative arrangements for the regulation, control and management of invasive species.

(2)   That the order of the Senate adopting Report No. 4 of 2003 of the Selection of Bills Committee be varied to provide that the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Invasive Species) Bill 2002 be referred to the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee instead of the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee.

Submissions

The Committee invites written submissions from interested individuals and organisations to be lodged by Friday, 10 October 2003.  The Committee prefers submissions to be lodged in electronic form, sent by email to ecita.sen@aph.gov.au. The email must include full postal address and contact details.

Alternatively, submissions may be sent to The Secretary, Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee, Parliament House, CANBERRA  ACT  2600, or faxed to 02 6277 5818. 

The terms of the bill and related explanatory material are available via the link below and notes on preparing submissions are available on the Committee's web site at www.aph.gov.au/senate_environment or by contacting the Committee secretariat as follows: phone: 02 6277 3526, fax: 02 6277 5818 or email: ecita.sen@aph.gov.au

Submissions become committee documents and are made public only after a decision by the Committee. Persons making submissions must not release them without the approval of the Committee. Submissions are covered by parliamentary privilege but the unauthorised release of them is not.

Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.

For further information, contact:

Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

Phone: +61 2 6277 3526
Fax: +61 2 6277 5818
Email: ecita.sen@aph.gov.au