WRNWAG October 2009 - AGM - Riverina Noxious Weeds Advisory ...

AGM MINUTES 

MEETING 6 th October 2009 

COMMENCING 10 AM 

HAY GOLF CLUB 

Guest Speakers: After AGM 

Welcome : President welcomed delegates and noted that 

the meeting would be taped. 

Apologies: R. Eade (Narrandera LHPA), G. Neyland (Bland 

Shire), S. Cowley (LPMA), R. Mitchell (Carrathool Shire), B. 

Burford (Griffith Shire), B. Ebery (Wakool Shire). 

Attendees: Cr. M. Abney – Hastings (Jerilderie Shire), G. 

Portbury (Jerilderie Shire), S. Lisle (NSW I & I), P. Bosse (E/ 

WRNWAG), L.Mitsch ( E/WRNWAG), D. Morris (CMWCC), 

S. Battenally (Wakool Shire), J. Morrison (Leeton Shire), J. 

Clyne (Leeton Shire), J. Gamble 

(MIA Rural), C. Hendriksen (ARTC), W. Judd (Wentworth 

Shire), P. Murphy ( Forests NSW), M. Lalor (Forests NSW), 

A Clark (Narrandera Shire), J Steele (Narrandera Shire), K. 

Woods (Carrathool Shire), A. Berry (Griffith Shire), A. 

Thompson (Balranald Shire), P. Derrig ( Hay Shire), R. 

Ferguson (RENWA). 

Local Government 

Balranald Shire 

Bland Shire 

Carrathool Shire 

Central Murray County 

Griffith City 

Hay Shire 

Jerilderie Shire 

Leeton Shire 

Murrumbidgee Shire 

Narrandera Shire 

Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 

Wentworth Shire 

Rural Lands 

Protection Boards 

Balranald/Wentworth 

Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 

Riverina 

Other Agencies 

Dept Environment & 

Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 

Murrumbidgee Private 

Irrigators Inc (YACTAC) 

National Parks & 

Wildlife 

Minutes: Moved: M. Abney Hastings 

Seconded: P. Derrig 

That the minutes as presented are a true and accurate 

record of the previous AGM. 

Carried. 

Business Arising 

• No business arising. 

Correspondence In 

• Moved: G. Portbury 

Seconded: A. Berry 

That correspondence is dealt with in the General meeting. 

Carried 

All Correspondence: 

Geoff Portbury 

The Group Secretary 

PO Box 96 

JERILDERIE NSW 2716 

T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

Correspondence Out 

• Moved: G. Portbury 

Seconded: A. Berry 

That correspondence is dealt with in the General meeting. 

Carried 

Financial Reports 

Moved: G. Portbury 

Seconded: P. Derrig 

Carried 

Annual Reports 

President: Mr. R. Ferguson gave a report on the activities of 

the group during the last year. 

Pleasure working with the group. 

Attended a WRM workshop in Sydney. 

Changes to funding soon. Time frame for 

implementation is too tight. 

Funding and WRM changes will need to be 

addressed in the coming year and will require our 

attention. 

Paula took leave. Lisa took the reins and performed 

all tasks required of her really well. 

Bi-enneal conference was run in Narrabri. All reports 

have been positive. No news of the next event but it is 

rumoured a change and broadening of the format may 

be on the cards. 

Paula won the Stephenson award. Good to know that 

we have the top end of management working with us. 

Need to consider the roles and responsibilities of 

WRNWAG in the coming year. 

Attended Ministerial weeds summit. Future results will 

be interesting. 

Recommended to all to stay involved with WRNWAG. 

We need a regionally recognised forum with which to 

present a united front from. 

Thanks to the girls (Paula and Lisa) for all their 

excellent work during the year. Keep an eye on the 

group’s web site. It is kept current and is full of useful 

information. Thanks to the Secretary 

He has worked hard for the group all year. 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

RWNPO Report 

2008/2009 – AGM – RNWPO (Paula) report WRNWAG. 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

I have been on 7 months maternity leave so this 

isn’t even half an annual report. I have gone 

back over my last report and included updates 

were possible. 

Our prioritisation process is going to be replaced by 

NWACs WRM system. The guidelines have been 

finalised and I am told an electronic form is being finetuned. 

One of my comments from the last two years reports has 

been about how the joint DECCW/DPI CMA project - 

Weed management priorities for biodiversity conservation 

should complement our RWS – fill in the gaps on 

widespread weed rankings. Unfortunately I am still no 

clearer on how we can make use of this project in a way 

that will benefit the region. I have raised my concerns 

and a joint factsheet was developed late last year – 

Understanding Weed Management in NSW. Workshops 

were held in the Lower Murray Darling, while I was on 

leave. I’m hoping we had some reps attend? Workshops 

are now being held in the Murrumbidgee by Leonie so it 

will be beneficial comparing with past workshops. 

I’ve been involved with the development of the Lachlan 

RWS. Attending several preliminary meetings in Forbes 

as well as the Temora workshop. The draft was finalised 

in June and supposed to be printed but we haven’t heard 

anything… to chase up. 

In 08/09 we received $250,000 for the 10 approved 

projects submitted. 2 projects weren’t funded (SBG and 

JG). 2 of our councils received funding to implement the 

RWS LMDC, 5 year funding application… Sagittaria and 

Black willow are both ongoing 3 & 4 year projects that 

were funded up front. 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

The cross border Sagittaria taskforce is back up and 

running now with a secretariat. We met in October last 

year to update all on current status and projects. 

3 new regional plans were revised and submitted while I 

was on leave. The Boneseed and Gorse regional plans 

are works in progress. Regional Boneseed declaration 

not yet submitted as plan not finalised and some LCAs 

still pushing declaration through their councils 




PO Box 96 


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M 0427 848 194

13 projects submitted in April to be funded in 

09/10 – all continuing projects have been 

approved. Just waiting on the announcement 

of the new projects (hardheads, sag, SLN, SBG, JG) 

Represent the Riverina (NSW) on the NWT as a 

corresponding member. 

Represented the Riverina on the NSW Weeds awareness 

reference group meeting – which is where the NS4W 

slogan was launched. 

Involved with the AWTF (2 meetings) and the Murray 

Darling AW project – which is where the current ad 

campaign has been funded from. 

Continue to liaise with WoNS coordinators on the status 

of regional infestations and available resources. 

Continue to liaise with Victoria on any suspect plants 

(noxious or other) that may be crossing the border. 

Horsetail example – Corryong / Khancoban both 

landholders said they got it from the other! 

Represented the Riverina at the Orange Noxious Weeds 

Management Workshop – although unlike last time I 

haven’t seen or heard of any outcomes from the two 

days. 

Assisted with an AW field day at Woomargama Station 

giving a brief history of the site….on my last day of work. 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

Took on Don Bourke with his comments on Weeds 

officers…. All I can say is we did our best! 

I’d also like to thank everyone who submitted their Group 

Project applications on time this year – it made my job a 

lot easier – especially when I couldn’t get to the 

workshop. I’d just like to thank Lisa who took on an extra 

day while I was on leave. She has continued to be a 

great asset to the team and has managed to keep the 

information flowing while I’ve been on leave and when 

I’ve been swamped with other tasks. 

I’ll finish up with my major achievement…winning the 

Stephenson Award for: ‘outstanding contribution to planning 

& coordinating weed management programs in NSW.’ I 

couldn’t have done it without you all! 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

Promotions Officer Report (Lisa) 

Website – www.riverinaweeds.org.au 

Website still going strong. Valuable tool that people 

appear to be utilising quite well. Monthly email Latest 

News updates appear to be well received. 

Chinwag 

Chinwag still being sent out approximately three times 

a year. Links to these can be found on the website. A 

big Thank You to those who contribute stories to 

Chinwag! It definitely makes the newsletter more 

interesting to hear stories from fellow colleagues! Keep 

sending stories, field days etc in for future editions. 

Field Days 

In late October 2008 Wagga City Council hosted 

a Tamarix ramosissima and Chilean Needle Grass 

field day at Borambola. Well attended. 

In November 2008 Greater Hume Shire hosted an 

Alligator Weed Field day at Woomargama. Well 

attended. 

In early December 2008 there was a Silverleaf 

Nightshade field day held in Leeton and 

Narrandera. Again well attended 

Murrumbidgee Farm Fair at Yanco was held in 

late April 2009. Fairly quiet on the exhibitors and 

patronage scale. Discussion may be held as to 

whether we scale this field day back to being a 

local one only and concentrate on Griffith’s 

Riverina Field Day. 

Riverina Field Day at Griffith was held in early 

May 2009. Well attended 

Henty Field days was held in late September 

2009. Working bee was well attended. All three 

days were well represented and attendance was 

pretty good in our little corner! 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

Mexican Feather Grass ~ the saga continues….. 

In January 2009 it was revealed (through a letter found 

on the NSW DPI website that we included in CHINWAG) 

that MFG was again being sold from Victoria into NSW. 

Wagga City Council contacted Phil Blackmore for 

further information and was informed that 12 plants 

had been sent and sold at Wagga Kmart prior to 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

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M 0427 848 194

Christmas. A recall is currently in process 

and so far one plant has been returned. 

In the last 12 months we now have more than a dozen 

pots of Mexican feather grass that have been 

purchased in the Riverina (Albury and Wagga) that we 

have no way of tracing. We could hope that the pots 

never made it into the ground and that the plants died 

– but there’s not much chance of that happening to 

all! So each time you inspect a property and every 

field day we hold from now on we need to inform as 

many people as we can about MFG in the hope we 

stumble on some of those plants! 

In May 2009 Victorian-based seed importer and 

distributor, Ball Australia, pleaded guilty to four offences 

relating to the propagation and distribution of MFG. 

The company was convicted and fined $12,000 and 

ordered to pay $3000 in legal costs. Ball Australia 

agreed to pay $20,000 compensation to DPI which will 

go toward clean-up costs. 

A recent display hosted by the DPI at the Melbourne 

International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) has 

resulted in the recovery of more Mexican feather grass 

plants. 5 reports were made of suspected MFG plants 

which subsequently resulted in the removal of 11 plants. 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

Fountain Grass 

In January 2009 Albury City weed officers intercepted 

64 pots of Pennisetum setaceum (fountain grass) at 

Bunning’s in Albury. Fortunately these were all sent 

back to the supplier before they made it to the shelf. 

Thanks to our Victorian colleagues for the tip off. 

Report for Noxious Weed Officers Association 

In February 2009 we submitted a report to the NWOA 

on our regions activities over the past 12 months. 

New Regional Plans – Silverleaf Nightshade, Sagittaria 

and Hardhead thistle 

All three revised regional plans are now available on 

the web. 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

NSW Weeds Conference 

15th Biennial New South Wales Noxious and 

Environmental Weeds Conference was held 

at Narrabri from the 15th to 17 th September 2009. From 

all reports the conference was worthwhile, however 

down on numbers from previous years. 

Buerckner & Stephenson Weed Officers Award 

This year the prestigious Stephenson Award was won by 

our very own Paula Bosse. This award was very well 

deserved for a hardworking, dedicated weed warrior! I 

am sure you will all agree that Paula is a very worthy 

recipient. There will be a media release soon from I & I 

and we will follow up with our own media. 

The Buerckener Award was won by Tony Martin from 

Sydney. 

Alligator Weed Television Advertisement 

The NSW No Space 4 Weeds Alligator Weed 

Advertisement was launched at ERNWAG’s site at the 

Henty Field Days. The launch was covered by The Land 

newspaper and media releases were sent to all media 

within the Riverina. The advertisement has been 

running on WIN television and will be aired until the end 

of October 2009. 

Bio Control Poster 

A simple Bio Control poster was developed for Henty 

Field Days to have on display as a reference for the 

weed officers. Available on our website under 

Documents/Factsheets/bio-control. 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

Kids Activity Books 2009 

An updated version of the kid’s activity book was 

created before Henty Field Days. The new version is 

also available on the web under Documents/kids 

Activities/Kids Activity Book 2009. 

Mesquite 

During May 2009 a brief report on Mesquite in the 

Riverina was completed for Peter Gray at DPI. 

Fact Sheets 

Hardheads fact sheet has been developed. 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

Working on Serrated Tussock and Prairie 

Ground Cherry. 

Regional Coordinator (Syd. Lisle) 

DPI now know as the Department of Industry and 

Investment and is in the process of being 

restructured. 

Budgets and projects have been tightened up. 

Grant changes are a major issue this year. 

Noxious Weeds Act review. Been working on it for the 

past eight months. 

Weeds summit has created a lot of stir. Aside from 

being able to have the regional weeds groups invited 

to attend the weeds unit have had no input into the 

summit at all. 

Having issues with staffing levels again. The only 

permanent training person they have in weeds is 

Birgitte Verbeek. Twenty one of thirty four people out 

of the entire group are temporary. 

A review of WONS weeds is in progress at the 

present time. 

Further changes in the Department are expected 

during the next twelve months. I the weeds unit is 

informed of the changes then the LCAs will be 

informed. 

The weeds unit is being left out of the loop more and 

more. Don’t have a representative on NWAC now. 

If regional advisory groups refuse to adopt future 

changes then the changes will be wrought around 

them. 

The Noxious Weeds Act review will change the 

mandate of the LCAs to inspect for more than 

Noxious Weeds. 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

Weeds Officers Reports 

Weeds Officers to give their reports during the general 

meeting. 

Election of Office Bearers 

All positions were declared vacant. 

Mr Sydney Lisle took the chair and called for nominations for 

the position of Chairperson. 

Nominations: Mr Robert Ferguson. 

Accepted. 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

Mr. R. Ferguson resumed the Chair. 

Nominations for two (2) Deputy Chairpersons. 

Nominations: Mr. S. Battenally 

Mr. P. Derrig 

Accepted 

Nominations for the position of Secretary Treasurer. 

Nominations: Mr G. Portbury 

Accepted 

Nominations for the positions of two (2) executive members. 

Nominations: Mr. A. Berry 

Mr. A. Clark 

Accepted 

General Business 

• Increase in member contributions. 

It was explained by the Secretary that due to the loss of 

contributions from four RLPB when that organisation was 

restructured WRNWAG was now deficient in contributions to 

the value of $400. As this money has been matched dollar 

for dollar by the Department we are in effect $800 short of 

our normal financing level. Hence the suggestion that 

contributions need to be increased. 

Moved: A. Berry “that the contributions to the Western 

Riverina Noxious Weeds Advisory Group is increased for 

One Hundred ($100) annually to One Hundred and Twenty 

($120) annually.” 



Bland Shire 



Griffith City 

Hay Shire 


Leeton Shire 



Temora Shire 

Wakool Shire 


Rural Lands 



Hay 

Murray 

Narrandera 




Conservation 

Murrumbidgee 

Irrigation 




Wildlife 

Seconded: Mr. J. Morrison 

Carried 

Date, Time & Venue of Next Meeting 

• October 5 th 2010. Hay Golf Club 10:00AM 

Meeting Close: 11:50 AM 




PO Box 96 


T 0358860025 

F 0358860025 

M 0427 848 194

WRNWAG October 2009 - AGM - Riverina Noxious Weeds Advisory ...

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