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The number of fire ants in Brisbane and the Gold Coast is soaring like never before. If we don't stop them now, researchers say the cost to our environment, health and communities will be enormous. We know that elections are where real change happens. With the Queensland election fast-approaching, you can help us make all political parties understand the devastating cost of failing to act on fire ants.
Now, data from the Australian Institute shows it could cost Queensland households $188 million a year in expenses, like medical bills, if we don’t take urgent action to stop them.
This is on top of a study that predicts population declines in about 45% of birds, 38% of mammals, 69% of reptiles, and 95% of frogs in South-East Queensland alone.
One thing is very clear – the next Queensland government has a choice: eradicate fire ants now or subject Queenslanders to an annual fire ant bill forever and we need to know their decision before we vote.
Last year, we managed to secure $593 million for the fire ant fight, but it’s not enough to finish the job.
Right now we still have no commitment from any party contesting this election that they’ll keep funding the fight. And without that, every Australian, our environment and wildlife could be in serious danger.
We all know that elections are where real change happens. Election commitments made by political candidates now will shape the future.
You can help us set the agenda by making sure all parties know the devastating cost of failing to act on fire ants. If you’re a Queenslander — download our writing kit to receive a local impact assessment for your electorate and the details of your local candidates.
Sending a personal email is one of the most powerful actions you can take. We know that when candidates receive emails from voters like you at election time, they pay attention. So please complete the form to get your writing kit and send a message now!
You don’t have to be a great writer. We’ll give you all the pointers you need to get started.
Fill in this form to receive emailed estimates of how many people and pets will be stung by fire ants in your electorate and the local costs of treatment and control.
These estimates are based on research by the Invasive Species Council and The Australia Institute, and will provide electorate-specific information that can be used to urge the next Queensland Parliament to do everything possible to eradicate this threat to our lifestyles and environment.
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The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.
Dear Project Team,
[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]
I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.
The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.
The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.
Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.
Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.
Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.
