Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287:reg:3:p64
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 64/276)
Character Range: 246135–249137

spread under the right conditions.
Cascade curse   Polygala myrtifolia          Cascade curse (or Milkwort) is a shrub that is a serious bushland weed in mainland Australia, particularly in coastal habitats. It grows rapidly, outcompeting natives such as the coastal wattle.
Cassia          Senna septemtrionalis        Cassia is a tall sprawling shrub with bright yellow flowers. It invades bushland and outcompetes other plants. It has become a serious invasive weed on Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group, which is at a similar latitude to the Norfolk Island Group.
Coffee          Coffea arabica               Coffee naturalised in some gully bottoms in the national park and botanic garden dating back to the 1800s. It is regarded as an environmental weed in mainland Australia and considered to be particularly invasive because it will grow under intact forest canopies.
Cotoneaster     Cotoneaster acrophylls       Cotoneaster is a large evergreen shrub with red berries. It is a garden escapee that forms dense thickets in bushland around towns.
Duranta         Duranta erecta               Duranta is regarded as an environmental weed on mainland Australia. This species invades moist or wet sites in native bushland areas and is also regarded as a 'sleeper weed' in parts of Australia (plants that appear benign for many years, but which may suddenly spread rapidly following certain natural events).
Honeysuckle     Lonicera japonica            Japanese honeysuckle is an aggressive scrambling shrub. It has become a serious weed in moist gullies, forests and bushland.
Mysore thorn    Biancaea decapetala          Mysore thorn is an aggressively prickly shrub that forms dense thickets. It invades environmental areas, creek banks, roadsides, pastures and bushlands. It has become a serious invasive weed on Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group, which is at a similar latitude to the Norfolk Island Group.
Rose apple      Syzygium jambos              Rose apple has been known to spread on oceanic islands, where it is a concern due to its perceived high impact on biodiversity.
Umbrella tree   Schefflera actinophylla      Umbrella tree escaped from cultivation, with the first record of it wild on Norfolk Island in de Lange et al. (2005). It is considered an environmental weed in mainland Australia as well as Christmas Island due to the roots being particularly invasive.

Sources: Green 1994; Ziesing 1997; Invasive Species Council & TierraMar 2021.

Introduction of pathogens
Introduction of new pathogens represents a major ongoing threat to the biodiversity of the Norfolk Island Group. Island birds have often evolved in the absence of diseases common in continental avian faunas, and the introduction of disease to island birds can be disastrous. An example is the arrival of avian malaria to Hawaii via the accidental introduction of a new species of mosquito. This event caused the extirpation of almost the entire endemic bird fauna below 600 m altitude and was probably the main