Queensland's fire ant infestation has marched over the border to northern New South Wales for the first time. The deadly pest had been confined to Queensland’s Southeast for more than 20 years. Experts believe the fire ants discovered near the New South Wales town of Murwillumbah have been there for at least three months.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 A painstaking search for a tiny creature that could cause big problems across Australia.
00:09 These are nasty little critters and we need to do everything we can to eradicate them.
00:12 They're very damaging for agriculture, for livestock and for humans.
00:17 Five nests of imported fire ants were discovered on Friday by a subcontractor on this Tweed
00:22 Council-owned site at Southmore Wollomba, about 12 kilometres south of the Queensland
00:27 border.
00:28 It's the first sign that the deadly pest has reached northern New South Wales.
00:33 We know they've been here for more than a few months, otherwise the nests wouldn't be
00:36 as developed as they are.
00:38 A biosecurity order is now in place for people living within five kilometres of the site.
00:44 The plan is working, the ants on this site have been treated, they have been eradicated.
00:51 There's a lot at stake.
00:53 The potential financial cost of living with fire ants is in the billions.
00:58 The Australian Government's own reports say that fire ants will be worse than the impacts
01:02 of cane toads, foxes, rabbits and feral pigs combined in terms of the economic damage they
01:08 will cause.
01:09 A national eradication plan is underway, but existing containment lines have been breached
01:14 many times in the past year.
01:17 New South Wales farmers want to see more done to stop the southward march of fire ants.
01:22 They're calling for a checkpoint to be set up here at this way station at Chinderah to
01:27 surge through soil, hay and garden material coming from Queensland.
01:32 It's just a massive issue and it's really important that they give it the priority.
01:36 It needs to be, to me, a warlike response.
01:40 Fire ants have been successfully eradicated in other parts of the country.
01:44 Locals are hoping the same happens this time.
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]