THORNY PROBLEMS - Rethinking Invasion Ecologies from the Environmental Humanities - page 125

agribusinesses have taken over management of vast tracts of land under pastoral
leases along the beef production chain and have invested capital in large-scale
mustering and transport logistics. The technological composition of capital in the
landscape and production is increasingly defined by such companies and family-
run pastoral businesses need to achieve comparable levels of efficiency to remain
profitable. In this context, prickle bushes have come to symbolise not just a weedy
plant but an entire complex of problems for pastoral families in the region. Not all
have the capital to use the technologies that large agribusinesses may use to clear
prickle bushes from their properties. Not all pastoral family businesses have the
capacity to keep abreast of various environmental regulations governing vegetation
clearance or the resourcefulness to garner funds from Landcare, WoNS, and other
government programs for eradicating prickly acacia. For many, the prickle bushes
are the new enemy invading their land and which need to be defeated in battle.
The main government agency interacting with pastoralists on the eradication of
alien invasive plants is the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (DAFF). 1 The agency provides support and advice to pastoralists on
matters ranging from choice of pasture grasses, quarantine, drought mitigation and
water, to weeds and pest management. The National Prickly Bush Management
Group operates in conjunction with this department and other state agencies for
Water, Natural Resources, Parks and Wildlife, to fund and assist pastoralist groups
who are active in Landcare programs targeted at eradication of WoNS, so as to
improve sustainability of the grazing industry and preserve native biodiversity
(March, 1995). The normal practice of eradication usually involves a combination
of physical uprooting and application of chemical herbicides to destroy the plants
(DPI Official, interviews, 2007).
We explored the differing perspectives regarding prickle bushes in northwest
Queensland by interviewing a number of family-run pastoral business owners. We
asked them about their experiences of pastoralism, how they managed their land,
what approaches they used for eradicating prickle bushes, and the challenges they
faced in the industry. 2 Based on these interviews, we elicited four perspectives that
broadly represented the concerns and approaches of family-run pastoral business
owners regarding land and prickle bush management. We have classified the
owners as: Pragmatists , Unsuccessful Battlers , Resisters and Strategists , and describe their
views below.
Pragmatists 3
A number of pastoralists pragmatically adopt the official Landcare perspectives
regarding land management and use government agency grants and resources to
eradicate prickle bush from their properties. Members of one family, well known
in the region as successful battlers against prickle bush (Spies and March, 2004),
declared that 'prickly acacia is the greatest threat the Artesian Basin has ever seen'.
They talked about the presence of these trees as emblematic of land that was
struggling to be productive: 'There is nothing more demoralising than seeing your