
Australia’s dirty dozen named and shamed
Our ‘dirty dozen’ is a list of some of the most dangerous overseas plants and animals to have evaded Australia’s environmental border controls.
Our ‘dirty dozen’ is a list of some of the most dangerous overseas plants and animals to have evaded Australia’s environmental border controls.
The terrible destructive force of Hurricane Harvey made headlines not just for its human toll, but also for forcing fire ants out of their nests. Brisbane expat Jennifer Singfield tells us what it’s like living with fire ants.
A spate of fire ant discoveries in Queensland has set alarm bells ringing, but instead we should treat them as a sign the new eradication program is beginning to hit its straps.
Australia has been put on a war footing against fire ants after every state, territory and the federal government signed off on a 10-year, $411.4 million battle plan.
On Wednesday, 26 July, Australia’s agriculture ministers signed off on a new, $411 million eradication program. Fire ant fight 2.0 is a fight we must win.
Biosecurity Queensland received a rude shock recently when deadly fire ants turned up 70km north of Brisbane’s containment zone.
We led the call for governments across the country to fully fund the complete eradication of red fire ants from Australia. Now we look at how the program can get the job done.
June 2017
Eradicating red imported fire ants will be not only a major technical and scientific challenge but a governance one as well. The effectiveness of governance could make the difference between success and failure.
Despite containing funds for fire ant eradication, the 2017 federal budget was a disappointing, missed opportunity for environmental biosecurity in Australia.
Farmers, local government and environment groups are calling on every state, territory and the federal government to fully fund eradication of deadly red fire ants in this year’s budgets.
After spending a week travelling across Australia with Texan Dr Robert Puckett we can only conclude that he was the perfect person to explain the hellish nature of living with fire ants.
All governments must come to a unanimous decision to boosted funding for red fire ant eradication. So how close are we to getting the unanimous support needed?
Who will be paying for the enhanced $38 million per year ten-year program needed to eradicate red fire ants from Australia? Learn which states pay what and why it matters.
The final report of the independent review panel commissioned by the Agriculture Ministers’ Forum that reviewed the National Red Imported Fire Ant Eradication Program and outlined options for achieving eradication of red fire ants from south east Queensland.
US fire ant expert Dr Robert Puckett arrives in Australia today as part of a national tour of Australia to warn the country that it needs to act immediately to get rid of the super pest.