By Emily-Rose Toohey
The Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) was stripped of its 2019 Froggatt Award last week.
Froggatt Awards recognise outstanding achievements in protecting Australia’s natural environment, and SDRC was recognised for local landholders taking action on pests and weeds – the 2017 implemented Invasive Pest Control Scheme (IPECS).
Its official removal in 2021 following a council vote has resulted in the award loss.
SDRC Mayor Vic Pennisi said there were a number of reasons why the IPECS was removed.
“The first instance is that it was an election issue – it was a very unpopular scheme, and although some embraced it, others didn’t feel that way,” Cr Pennisi said.
“Secondly, it was costly – rate payers were losing money and we have to do right by them.”
A spokesperson for SDRC said more than 700 Southern Downs landholders joined forces at Freestone on 10 August 2017 to voice their discontent with IPECS.
“It was time for SDRC to listen and act,” the spokesperson said.
“After it was removed, a new era began with the current Pest Management Scheme which utilises existing tools to manage and police non-compliant landholders in a cost-effective and fair manner.”
The spokesperson said IPECS was based on a similar scheme introduced in Victoria.
“At the time IPECS was implemented across the Southern Downs, the scheme looked to be a world-first in invasive pest management,” the spokesperson said.
“The Victoria scheme had a major difference: it was a rewards-based scheme and not a penalty-based scheme, and SDRC was the latter.
“The money collected by council from the rate base of landholders was not enough to support the operational costs of IPECS.”
As a result, the spokesperson said the scheme left the council open to costly legal challenges.
“All of our legal obligations are being filled with our new scheme,” the spokesperson said.
Cr Pennisi said that if he had known removing IPECS would have lost council the Froggatt Award, he still would have made the removal decision.
“We have an obligation to landholders and the existing scheme is now working well,” Cr Pennisi said.
