Cane toad kill reward spruiked by Hanson

Senator Pauline Hanson believes there should be money on the table for Australians who kill cane toads to help control the problematic species.

File image of a cane toad

Pauline Hanson has proposed a 10-cent bounty on cane toads to help eradicate the pest. (AAP) Source: AAP

Australians should get 10 cents for every cane toad they kill this summer, according to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

In a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the senator has argued the bounty could help curb the invasive species whose poisonous toxin kills some native animals.

"As Queensland and neighbouring states go through our summer months, a further explosion of cane toads are hatching, adding to the estimated 200 million already here in Australia," Senator Hanson wrote.

Cane toads have had a huge impact on native animals since being introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to eradicate beetles infesting sugar cane and spreading across most of northern Australia.

Their toxins make them deadly to lizards, quolls, dingoes and crocodiles which eat them.

Senator Hanson said federal parliament must devise a bipartisan approach to eradicating the species, noting a $2 million investment in cane toad research in 2008 has not produced a solution.

In the meantime, a three-month cane toad collection reward scheme could help keep the toads at bay, she said.

"A 10 cent reward for the collection of each cane toad, I believe would encourage most Australians living with the pest to take an active role in reducing their numbers until a biological measure is developed."

Children should put down their iPads and join the effort and Australians receiving welfare payments should help too, the senator believes.

An upcoming parliamentary inquiry into the pest should also be held in up north, rather than the nation's capital, she has argued.

"As far as I know there's no cane toads in Canberra yet. Get the inquiry up in Queensland, get the real people who know what to do about this," she told Nine's Today on Wednesday.

[The full story is available on the podcast above]


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Presented by Leah Na
Source: AAP

Share this with family and friends


Follow SBS Korean

Download our apps
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Korean-speaking Australians.
Ease into the English language and Australian culture. We make learning English convenient, fun and practical.
Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
Korean News

Korean News

Watch it onDemand