Environment
Lethal injections for reef menace
A CULL of the crown of thorns starfish, which threatens the Great Barrier Reef, will be given a boost with $1.4 million to spend on boats and staff trained to kill the menace.
The starfish has been feeding on huge amounts of algae trapped on the reef after the 2010-11 floods, destroying coral formations in the process.
Environment Minister Tony Burke said the funds would go to tourism operators qualified to inject the starfish with a lethal cocktail, in an effort to preserve the reef.
