Understanding the risk: real world application of the general biosecurity obligation, more than killing invasives

The Queensland Biosecurity Act 2014 (the Act) provides a ‘cohesive legislative framework for governments, industries and communities to respond to pest species in Queensland’. A significant change identified from previous legislation has been the transition from ‘prescriptive’ measures for control and management of invasive plants, to a risk-based approach. Management decisions made under the Act will depend on the likelihood and consequence of the pest impact not on the mere presence of the invasive species. The broadening of legislative responsibilities so that everyone now has a general biosecurity obligation (GBO) is a key mechanism within the Act that supports the risk-based approach of invasive plants, along with other legislative requirements for certain landholders. The Act does not prescribe all the actions that are needed to meet the GBO in any given situation. It leaves much of what is required to those dealing with the biosecurity matter and associated risks and describes those actions required as what is reasonable and practical to minimise the risk associated with the biosecurity matter or activity in question. The determination of the risk associated with biosecurity matter and what are reasonable and practical measures to manage the risk will be influenced by many factors. It is therefore reasonable to assume that how biosecurity risks are managed may differ from land manager to land manager but be guided by Local Government Biosecurity Plans. In this paper we discuss the complexities and application of the GBO in the real world context of managing risk associated with invasive plants with reference to giant rat’s tail grass and lantana, two significant invasive plants in Queensland.