Cheap, effective and dangerous: how Australian farmers came to depend on the toxic weedkiller paraquat

By Sarah Rogers, Associate Professor of Geography, The University of Melbourne
Sonia Graham, Future Fellow in Human Geography, University of Wollongong
Zoe Ju-Han Wang, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, James Cook University

It is illegal to use paraquat in at least 74 jurisdictions worldwide, including the European Union, China, Malaysia, Brazil and, most recently, the US state of Vermont.

But today, Australia’s chemical regulator gave this effective but highly toxic herbicide the green light.

After a nearly 30-year review,…

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