'Irreversible damage' if govt refuses to fund Centre for Invasive Species: report

The future of the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, which researches and develops tools to fight pests, is under threat, with less than 12 months of federal funding and no commitment from the new government.

The independent report was conducted by biosecurity consultant Spiegare and circulated amongst organisations that work with CISS. While not released publicly, a copy has been seen by ACM and it paints a grim picture of Australia's ability to respond to a growing number of threats without CISS's pipeline of research and innovation.

READ MORE: Nation unarmed to fight pests when funding runs out in 12 months

"Shutting it down will cause irreversible damage and result in despair for Australian biosecurity and trade future," the report stated.

"Closure of a national body like CISS will prove detrimental to this country's biosecurity future as there are currently no cost effective and sufficiently connected institutions to carry this work forward in its absence."

Invasive species cost Australia around $24.5 billion a year, or roughly 1.26 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product. The report found CISS was incredibly cost effective returning nearly $3 for every $1 invested and the organisation was so vital that if it didn't exist "we'd need to reinvent it".

The centre's work is particularly important due to the growing number of "sleeper" species that are likely to become invasive due to climate change, which if left unchecked would cause damage to biodiversity, agricultural systems and trade activities.

"Without a national co-ordinating body like CISS, Australia is less equipped to manage the potential mega shock arising from established and new invasive species compounded by climate change," the report stated.

READ MORE: Senator David Pocock calls for invasive species pest control funding

The report urged policymakers to learn from the mistakes of the past, pointing to the damage suffered by the nation's environment and agricultural industry when the Weeds CRC folded in 2008, which left the research field chronically under-funded, fragmented and uncoordinated.

Since 2005, CISS has an impressive track record, releasing the first rabbit biocontrol in 20 years, the first predator baits in 50 years (for foxes and wild dogs) and a sodium nitrite bait that's lethal to feral pigs but harmless to non-target species.

It helped create eDNA surveillance technology that allows the real time detection of invasive species in an environment and even artificial intelligence traps that combines eDNA with acoustics to lure in pests.

CISS is seeking a federal government commitment of $10m a year for five years in the upcoming budget to continue its pipeline of work, which has been backed by agricultural and environmental leaders, along with politicians such as Senator David Pocock.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has remained tight-lipped about if the organisation will receive funding in Tuesday's budget, other than to say his department was looking at a range of programs that only had short term funding.

"One of the major criticisms of the former government is they never delivered long-term sustainable funding for biosecurity, they preferred an ad-hoc short-term basis," Mr Watt said.