A controversial ‘pest-removal’ poison used by local governments has been banned due to its cruel method of killing, compared to alternatives.
In an 11-3 vote, Northern Beaches Council decided last week to officially discontinue the use of Sodium Fluoroacetate, more commonly known as 1080, a poison that affects an animal’s central nervous system, with time to death ranging from 5 to 48 hours once a lethal amount is consumed.
Though the poison has not been used in the LGA since 2023, Greens Councillor Ethan Hrnjak, who put forward the motion, wanted to formalise its discontinuation.
“If we already don’t use 1080, why not make that method explicitly transparent and permanently pull it?” Cr Hrnjak questioned Council during their monthly meeting.
“It is not a targeted control method; it does not distinguish between a fox, a bandicoot, a goanna, a companion animal, or a raptor that scavenges a poisoned carcass. It is an indiscriminate, broad-spectrum toxin that causes convulsions, vomiting, cardiac distress and hours of prolonged suffering before death.”
Previously, the poison has been used for tasks such as controlling the Northern Beaches fox population, particularly in 2015, after a major fox-related attack in Manly devastated already endangered local little penguin populations. However, it was agreed by majority of councillors that the method is outdated with more humane alternatives available, such as shooting, trapping and den fumigation.
On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham cautioned Councillors at the meeting, referring to her position on the Quarantine Station Advisory Committee and highlighting the areas challenges with foxes, “They use snipers when they can,” she said, “but the thing is, the foxes eat the penguins… they’re losing a lot of animals because of the foxes, so I really caution Council, not too ban [1080] and then we just keep it in our arsenal on the very odd occasion when we need it and when we need to act quickly.”
Animal Justice Party NSW had previously started its own petition to push 1080 out of the Northern Beaches, while the activist group Coalition Against 1080 Poison has welcomed the ban, citing 25 at-risk native species now protected, including the threatened powerful owl and the long-nosed bandicoot.
It also stated there are still 178 active NPWS 1080 Programs across NSW.
The Northern Beaches is one of the first councils in the state to vote out 1080, following Campbeltown Council’s decision to ban the poison in 2022, which was preceded by Blue Mountains Council’s action in 2021. However, not everyone welcomed the ban.
Shortly after the 2021 decision, the Invasive Species Council voiced its concern and asked the Blue Mountains City Council to reconsider its stance, stating the native wildlife would be “at the mercy” of foxes without the toxin.
The organisation went on to warn Northern Beaches Council that their decision to also ban 1080 bait risks undermining decades of conservation work.
“Where invasive foxes are present, almost any Australian mammal weighing between 35 grams and five and a half kilograms will be wiped out. That includes long-nosed bandicoots, brush turkeys, wallabies, and, of course, the endangered little penguins at North Head,” Invasive Species Council Rewilding Manager Rob Brewster said, “This is a misguided decision which I hope will be swiftly reversed by the Councillors because it will have devastating environmental consequences.”
Although Northern Beaches will now be 1080 free on land managed by Council, areas under the operation of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) – including Ku Ring Gai Chase National Park, Sydney Harbour National Park in Manly, and North Head – are still permitted to use the poison under state law.
Issues with this poison policy came to light in January when a local resident’s dog, Bo, died after ingesting 1080 bait on NPWS Northern Beaches land; the incident sparked the Greens’ motion after his owner contacted councillors, stating, “No animal should suffer the torture that Bo did – not even foxes.”
According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), 1080 is naturally occurring in over 40 Australian plants and, as a result, can break down easily, having “little to no effect” on the environment.
The State department further justifies using the toxin, stating it has been tested in many environments as a safe and effective pest control, with native marsupials being less sensitive to the poison compared to target animals such as dogs, foxes, cats, pigs and rabbits.
