Australia’s agriculture ministers will “continue working on a new proposal” to deal with red fire ants – an announcement branded a “failure” by campaigners who had been pushing for an urgent ramp-up of eradication efforts and increased funding.
The Invasive Species Council says it now expects red fire ants – one of the world’s worst invasive species – to spread beyond current containment zones into New South Wales and western Queensland.
Thursday’s meeting of state, territory and federal agriculture ministers discussed the fire ant outbreak and warnings – from two years ago – about the need for an “urgent change of strategy”.
A strategic review of pre-existing eradication efforts and funding from August 2021 found that governments “will not be able to eradicate or contain” the red fire ant outbreak in Brisbane and surrounds.
The review uses the word “urgent” 18 times. But since receiving the 2021 report, authorities have not yet publicly committed to a pivot in strategy.
Speaking after a meeting in Perth on Thursday, the federal agriculture minister, Murray Watt, said fire ants were “a very real threat” to south-east Queensland and that states were “united” on the need to act.
“What we’ve agreed today is that we will continue working on a new proposal, led by Queensland, for eradication of red imported fire ants,” Watt said.
He said most jurisdictions had agreed to bring forward future funding to the current financial years “so we can keep up momentum” and that about $60m would be available this year.
The Invasive Species Council’s fire ant campaigner, Reece Pianta, said that amount was less than a third of the annual amount required, based on recommendations in the 2021 report.
“[The] delay of this decision means we expect fire ants will breach containment into NSW and western Queensland,” Pianta said.
“The government has had two years to act on this critical issue. There are no excuses and inaction makes this situation worse.
“Today’s failure risks the work that has been done so far on fire ants and puts all of Australia in danger.”
In recent years, fire ants have continued to spread in south-east Queensland, and recent finds on the Gold Coast have raised concerns the pests are moving quickly towards NSW.
The ants are described as a “social menace”, swarm aggressively and inflict a sting that can itch and burn for an hour. In rare cases, people have died from allergic reactions.
The review said the uncontrolled spread of red fire ants would have an economic impact of up to $2bn a year.
