00:01Plucked from the bush around Alice Springs, bunches of buffle grass delivered to the Environment Minister's door to send a
00:09message to all political leaders.
00:11It's time for everyone right across the country to come together and start paying attention to the threat that this
00:19poses.
00:19Buffle grass was introduced in the late 1800s to feed livestock and control dust.
00:25It spreads easily, smothers native species and fuels fire.
00:30Locals say they've seen the damage first hand.
00:33You know, wildflowers can't grow, animals are deprived of food, people can't find their sacred sites.
00:39Buffle is a real fire risk and that has implications for tourism, that has implications for people living in remote
00:45communities.
00:45It alarms me to hear that a noxious weed is being imported and continuing to do damage.
00:52Environmentalists say it's spread across the territory into other states deserves more attention.
00:57This needs to be a matter of national significance.
01:01Buffle grass should be declared a weed of national significance.
01:05But pastoralists disagree.
01:08The Cattlemen's Association says buffle needs to be managed where it causes harm and argues it sustains production and supports
01:15economies.
01:16While the minister is left to clean up, saying the grass shouldn't have been dumped at his door and needed
01:22to have been bagged and binned, protesters remain resolute.
01:26We're surrounded and drowning in buffle grass and we're looking down the barrel of a really rough fire season.
01:33A debate that continues to grow.
01:37H
01:38H
01:38H
01:39H
01:40You
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