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Senate inquiry warns of ‘disastrous’ fire ant consequences without urgent action

The report of the Senate inquiry into fire ants released today called for an urgent review of funding and other changes to the response program if we are to win the battle to keep Australia fire ant free.

The inquiry found that there would be ‘disastrous consequences’ for Australia’s natural environment and economy if eradication was not successful.

If the highly invasive fire ants are not eradicated from the massive infestation area in south east Queensland, all Australians will suffer their impacts. 

For the last 23 years the government-funded eradication program run by the Queensland government has had multiple setbacks due to limited funding, slow decision-making and unnecessary secrecy.

The committee confirmed that eradication remains possible, but warned that unless major changes are made to the response program, the ants will continue to spread. 

The committee made clear that ‘current resources and funding are unlikely to meet that eradication goal’ and recommended an urgent review of funding and the program’s structure.

Quotes attributable to Reece Pianta Advocacy Manager – Invasive Species Council

‘The senate committee report is a call for our government to boost fire ant eradication efforts.’

‘While the report makes it clear that the eradication program has successfully slowed the spread of fire ants, that approach is not a solution.’ 

‘The evidence to the committee was damning. There’s now no excuse, the government must conduct an urgent review of fire ant eradication funding.’

‘The Prime Minister and Minister Murray Watt and state and territory governments must act on these urgent recommendations to get fire ant eradication back on track.’

‘Governments that let fire ants spread will be judged harshly by future Australians.’

‘This report comes on the heels of new economic modelling that fire ant impacts in Australia will exceed $2 billion per year.’

About the Senate inquiry report

The report titled ‘Red imported fire ants in Australia: Don’t let this come back to bite us’ contained 10 recommendations and received unanimous support from the cross-party Senate committee.

The recommendations call for:

  • An alternative independent agency or commission for fire ant eradication program delivery.
  • A rapid review of current funding to ensure it is sufficient and uninterrupted to get the job done.
  • Greater eradication program transparency and a public awareness campaign.
  • An increased investment in research on emerging fire ant eradication techniques.
  • More resources for public self-treatment of fire ants in the infestation zone and increased compliance to control fire ant movements in freight.

Additional materials

The Invasive Species Council submission to the senate inquiry into fire ants in Australia is available here.

Images, maps and other fire ant multimedia to accompany this story are available here.

Background information on fire ants:

  • Fire ants are dark reddish-brown with a darker black-brown abdomen and range in size from two to six millimetres long. Their ant nests are distinctive mounds of loose, crumbly or fluffy-looking soil with a honeycomb appearance, up to 40 centimetres high, with no obvious entrance holes.
  • Fire ants can damage electrical and agricultural equipment, sting people, pets and livestock, kill native plants and animals, and damage ecosystems beyond repair.
  • Those who breach the emergency biosecurity order could face significant penalties with fines for breaches reaching up to $1.1 million for an individual and up to $2.2 million for a corporation.
  • A ten-year eradication program has been developed, with $593 million required in the first 4 years.
  • The 2021 National Red Imported Fire Ant Eradication Program strategic review estimated that at least $200 to $300 million per year will be required for ongoing eradication efforts to achieve eradication by 2032.
  • 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, cut agricultural output by up to 40% and may cause up to 650,000 extra medical appointments each year.
  • Fire ants can form rafts during flood events, stowaway in freight or soil, or spread by Queen ant flights of around 5 km per year (and up to 30 km in favourable conditions).
  • Fire ants came into Australia in the late 90s in freight from the United States, they were found in 2001. Fire ants are originally from South America.
  • Fire ants have spread across most of the southern United States, and are spreading in China at a rate of about 80 km per year. Australia has managed to contain fire ants in south east Queensland since 2001 however under-resourcing has prevented successful eradication.

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$423 billion per year and rising: The cost of invasive species revealed
Leaked government documents reveal fire ant funding failure that puts eradication plans at risk
Pandemic pet boom escalates wildlife kills

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Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

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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]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]