Media Release 8 Oct 2026 
Today, the Arid Lands Environment Centre launches the first ever National Report on Buffel Grass, the Buffel Bulldozer. The report launch includes significant advocates and scientists from across the continent.
Buffel grass is the invasive grass burning through the landscapes across Australia. It presents a significant threat to public safety, health, culture, biodiversity, and the economy across inland Australia.
Buffel grass is already present in VIC, WA, NSW, QLD, SA & NT, and has the potential to spread across more than 50 percent of the continent.
Speakers:
Asta Hill, Mayor of Alice Springs NT, lawyer and human rights advocate;
Dr. Ellen Ryan-Colton, Ecologist Flinders University SA;
Camille Dobson, Eastern Arrernte woman & advocate NT;
Dr Fiona Murdoch, Ecologist Mallee Conservation VIC;
Ros Harvey, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation;
Taigen Ryan, Kalkadoon woman & Voice of Country advocate Invasive Species Council, QLD;
Alex Vaughan and Kathleen Herbert Arid Lands Environment Centre, NT.
What: National Launch: Buffel Grass Bulldozer - National Report on Buffel Grass
Where: Online on zoom - RSVP for link.
When: Thursday 8th of October
6-7pm AEDT (3-4pm WA, 4.30-5.30pm NT, 5-6pm QLD, 5.30-6.30pm SA and 6-7pm NSW, VIC, ACT & TAS).
Watch/Listen to the Launch here
Quotes for publication:
Ros Harvey, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation
"From the Victorian Mallee, to the Kimberley and across inland Australia, Buffel grass is a catastrophe for nature across this continent"
Camille Dobson, Eastern Arrernte woman and advocate, Alice Springs NT
"Buffel is the next wave of colonialism. It's impacting our language, culture, health and wellbeing. We didn't plant it, we don't want it, no one ever asked us."
Dr. Fiona Murdoch, Ecologist Mallee Conservation Victoria
"Buffel Grass is a bulldozer, but Victoria still has time to stop it at the border. Declare it a Weed of National Significance now, because the people who profit from buffel won't be the ones paying to pull it out if it invades our national parks."
Asta Hill, Mayor of Alice Springs
“People in Alice Springs are living with buffel grass every day. It is choking our township and we are terrified of the fire risks going into summer.”
“Every year, the burden on our community grows as we spend more time and resources managing fire risk and protecting the places we love, while buffel grass continues to spread.”
“Our Council is doing an enormous amount of work to manage buffel grass, but this problem is now far beyond what local ratepayers can reasonably be expected to fund alone.”
“Our community is calling for help. Last week the Alice Springs Town Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for Buffel Grass to be listed as a weed of national significance, and for a funded partnership with NT and Federal Governments. Ratepayers cannot continue to shoulder the cost of managing an issue of this scale.”
Alex Vaughan, Arid Lands Environment Centre
“We are really proud to launch this evidence based report on the buffel grass bulldozer that is burning landscapes and putting landscapes at risk. “
“Buffel grass is already found in Victoria, NSW, WA, QLD, SA and NT, is impacting at least 31 EPBC listed threatened species, and at least 28 Indigenous Protected Areas are at risk. “
Taigen Ryan, Invasive Species Council
“What we’re hearing from communities is not a request for government to do everything. It’s a request for government to recognise the scale of the problem, coordinate the response, and give communities the tools and resources to protect the Country they are already working so hard to care for.”
"The evidence is now clear enough. Buffel grass is not a local problem. We need a national parliamentary inquiry and buffel grass must be listed as a Weed of National Significance so governments can coordinate the scale of response this threat demands."
“Buffel grass reaches far beyond any one industry. It touches culture, Country, biodiversity, fire, health, tourism and the communities who live with these changes every day. Places like Mparntwe, Alice Springs and my home on Kalkadoon Country, Mount Isa, contribute enormously to our society, yet too often they are an afterthought in decisions made far away in our cities. That’s why this issue is so close to my heart.”
Further comment from speakers available on enquiry
Photos of buffel impact available on enquiry
Media Liaison
Meret MacDonald Arid Lands Environment Centre
0456 475 810