Kwinana adopts pest plant law listing 22 species with 5,000 dollar fines

The City of Kwinana will be able to order landowners to destroy, eradicate or control 22 listed pest plants from 10 November 2026, with penalties of up to $5,000 and a further $500 for each day or part of a day that an offence continues. The City of Kwinana Pest Plants Local Law 2026 appears in the Government Gazette of Western Australia No. 136 of 27 October 2026 under official reference LG401, following a council resolution of 23 September 2026.

The new instrument is made under the Local Government Act 1995 and the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007. It applies throughout the district, repeals the Town of Kwinana Pest Plants Local Law that was gazetted on 18 November 2003, and comes into operation 14 days after publication — that is, on 10 November 2026. The law was sealed on 16 October 2026 in the presence of Mayor Peter Feasey and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Jack.

Enforcement notices over private land

Clause 3.1 empowers the local government, or an authorised person appointed under section 9.10 of the Act, to serve a notice on the owner or occupier of private land requiring that the identified pest plant be treated in the manner the notice specifies.

The notice must follow the Pest Plant Notice form in Schedule 2, which requires the issuing officer to state:

• the common and scientific name of the plant;
• the land concerned and whether the recipient is owner or occupier;
• whether destruction, eradication or control is required, and the manner of achieving it;
• the date by which measures must commence and the date by which they must be completed;
• the date of service and the signature of the person authorised by the City of Kwinana.

If a notice is not obeyed, clause 3.4 allows the city to take the required action itself without paying any compensation, and to recover the cost from the owner or occupier in a court of competent jurisdiction. Duties and liabilities fall jointly and severally on every owner or occupier named.

Penalties and on-the-spot fines

Clause 4.1 makes it an offence to fail to do anything required by the local law, to fail to comply with a notice issued by an authorised person, or to do anything the local law prohibits. The maximum penalty is $5,000, with a maximum daily penalty of $500 for each day the offence continues.

Failure to comply with a Pest Plant Notice under clause 3.3 is also a prescribed offence for the purposes of section 9.16(1) of the Local Government Act 1995, carrying a modified penalty of $250 for a first offence and $500 for a subsequent offence. Infringement notices follow Form 2 in Schedule 2 of the Local Government (Functions and General) Regulations 1996, and withdrawal notices follow Form 3.

The twenty-two listed species

Schedule 1 designates the following plants as pest plants, excluding any species already declared under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007:

• Blowngrass (Lachnagrostis filiformis)
• Caltrop (Tribulus terrestris)
• Castor Oil Bush (Ricinus communis)
• Carnation Weed (Euphorbia terracina)
• Dock (Rumex species)
• Evening Primrose (Oenothera species)
• Gladiolus (Gladiolus caryophyllaceus)
• Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula)
• Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana)
• Pigface (Carpobrotus edulis)
• Thistle (Carduus or Cirsium species)
• Perennial Veldt Grass (Ehrharta calycina)
• Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia)
• Black Flag (Ferraria crispa)
• Coastal Teatree (Gaudium laevigatum)
• Giant Reed (Arundo donax)
• Watsonia (Watsonia species)
• Gazania (Gazania linearis)
• Veldt Daisy (Osteospermum ecklonis)
• Freesia (Freesia leichtlinii)
• Sydney Golden Wattle (Acacia longifolia)
• Flinders Range Wattle (Acacia iteaphylla)

The change gives the city a direct, self-help enforcement mechanism over invasive vegetation on private blocks for the first time in more than two decades, and shifts clean-up costs onto non-compliant owners rather than ratepayers. Owners and occupiers in the district should expect notice forms specifying both a start date and a completion date for treatment, backed by infringement notices if the work is not done.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 136, 27 October 2026, Local Government, p. 2439 (official reference: LG401).