Action 1: Help stop super invaders in their tracks

Some weeds and pest animals could become “super invaders” under climate change if Australia continues to import new strains of already established invasive species.

One big danger in bringing new forms of established invasive species into the country is the risk of arming weeds and pest animals with the genetic variability needed to quickly adapt to changing conditions under climate change.

The key to the problem is fixing our quarantine risk assessments, which are currently applied mostly to new species and not new genetic variants.

Take action
Please write to the Australian Government asking that biosecurity laws require new genetic variants be assessed to reduce the risks of us creating super-invasive weeds and pests.

You can use our sample letter for ideas. Letters should be sent to the federal environment minister Peter Garrett as well as Tony Burke, Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry minister.

If sending your letter by email the addresses are:

The Hon Peter Garrett, AM MP
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
Email: Peter.Garrett.MP@aph.gov.au

The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Email: Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au

If sending your letter by post the address for both ministers is:
Parliament House Contact, PO Box 6022,
House of Representatives,
Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600

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Action 2: Sound the alarm bells about killer plant disease that could devastate WA biodiversity hotspots

Research is showing that Australia’s most devastating plant disease, Phytophthora cinnamomi, is likely to cause a massive collapse of native vegetation under climate change in southwestern Australia.

Please email or write Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and your local Federal MP expressing your alarm about the threat of phytophthora to ecosystems in southwestern WA and elsewhere in Australia.

Letters and emails don’t have to be long. See our sample letter for points you could make and questions you could ask, including:

- Express your concern/alarm about the phytophthora threat to ecosystems in southwestern WA and elsewhere, set to worsen under climate change.

- Ask if the minister/your local Federal MP is aware of research by Western Australia’s Department of Environment and Conservation warning that Australia’s most devastating plant disease, Phytophthora cinnamomi, is likely to cause a massive collapse of native vegetation under climate change in southwestern Australia.

- Ask if the Federal Government intends to implement the threat abatement plan and fully fund actions to manage the disease.

- Stress that much can be done to avert catastrophic losses from Phytophthora cinnamomi and ask what else the Federal Government is doing to limit the destruction caused by this deadly pathogen.

- Refer the minister/your local Federal MP to Double Trouble for more information.

Addressing your letter
Emails to Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett can be sent to  Peter.Garrett.MP@aph.gov.au. They can also be sent via his Parliamentary contact page.

If mailing your letter to the federal environment minister please address it to:
The Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Find out who your federal MP is
You can use the Australian Electoral Commission website’s search function to find out who your local federal MP is and what their postal and email addresses are.

Thank you for taking action on this important matter.