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Cabarlah fire ant detection shows containment alone can never keep Australia safe

The Invasive Species Council says the discovery of fire ant nests at a Defence base in Cabarlah, north of Toowoomba, is a stark reminder that only full eradication of fire ants can stop outlier outbreaks from occurring.

The Council has welcomed the rapid response to the detection, but warned that as long as a large domestic fire ant infestation remains in South East Queensland, outlier events like Cabarlah will keep happening – despite increasingly effective containment measures.

According to the National Fire Ant Eradication Program:

  • suspect fire ant nests were found by Downer Defence during proactive surveillance at Borneo Barracks in Cabarlah and reported to the program on 15 October
  • the detection is outside the program’s containment boundary
  • program officers destroyed the nests within 24 hours, and treatment and surveillance will extend up to 500 metres from the detection site
  • genetic testing is still underway to determine where the ants came from.

The detection as an example of Australia’s biosecurity system working as intended. The Council agrees the response was swift, but says the bigger lesson is that the fire ants got there at all.

‘Defence and the eradication program found these nests and acted quickly, but we can’t keep relying on luck and fast reflexes,’ Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Reece Pianta said.

‘Containment buys time, but it cannot deliver certainty. While a domestic fire ant infestation exists, there will always be a pot plant, a load of soil, a turf delivery or a truck that slips through. No containment system – no matter how well run – can stop 100% of fire ant spread.

‘Every outlier is a roll of the dice. This time the nests were found on a secure Defence site with active surveillance. The next one could land in a backyard, a farm or a creek bank where nobody is looking, and be left to mature and spread for months or years.

‘The only system that can stop outliers like Cabarlah from happening in the first place is one that removes the source – and that means eradication.

‘Eradication is expensive, but containment is not a cheaper option. It is a permanent bill, paid forever, with a steady stream of outbreaks like this one on top.

‘The national eradication program is only funded until June 2027. Agriculture ministers have backed keeping eradication on the table. Now treasurers need to fund it in full, before the next outlier turns into the next infestation.

‘We also want the results of the genetic testing made public as soon as they are available, so the community understands how these ants reached Cabarlah and what is being done to close that pathway.’

Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

Background:

  • On 15 October 2026, Downer Defence reported suspect fire ant nests found during proactive surveillance at Borneo Barracks, Cabarlah, in the Toowoomba region. The National Fire Ant Eradication Program destroyed the nests by direct injection, confirmed them as fire ants, and announced the detection on 21 October. Genetic testing to find the source is underway. (source)
  • Fire ant detections outside the containment boundary are known as outlier detections. They occur when fire ants are carried out of infested areas, most often in soil, turf, mulch, potted plants, hay and other materials, or on vehicles and machinery.
  • Fire ant colonies can reproduce after around six months. These reproduction events can infest freight and materials, and this has caused previous outlier detections, including in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.
  • Fire ants can also form rafts during flood events and spread by queen ant flights of around 5 km per year (and up to 30 km in favourable conditions).
  • Fire ants can be lethal to humans, are expected to have a $2 billion per year impact on Australia’s economy if they get out of control, will devastate wildlife and could cut agricultural output by up to 40%.
  • Red imported fire ants could cause 650,000 additional medical appointments every year if they are allowed to spread unchecked across Australia.
  • Fire ant stings carry an anaphylaxis rate nearly three times higher than common stinging insects like bees.
  • The current national fire ant eradication program is funded until June 2027.
  • Agriculture ministers from across the country recently made a united commitment to keep fire ant eradication on the table, saying the next critical test is whether state, territory and federal treasurers will fund the plan.
  • A proposed Response Plan 2027–32 would continue the eradication effort over the following five years, subject to funding commitments from Australian, state and territory governments.
  • More than 95% of Australia is suitable for fire ant infestation.

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    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.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
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    [Your postcode]


    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.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]