Fire ants found in Wardell on Friday were destroyed on Saturday and are no longer a risk to the community living in the immediate area, according to the NSW Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty.
The fire ants in Wardell were originally reported in by a member of the community to the NSW Biosecurity Hotline on Friday and confirmed as fire ants later that day.
The Ballina finding also comes just days after fire ants were spotted floating in floodwaters around the Gold Coast and warnings that fire ants could spread further south after being detected in Murwillumbah.
National Fire Ant Eradication Program
The NSW Department of Primary Industries team moved in with colleagues from the National Fire Ant Eradication Program and Ballina Shire Council to destroy the fire ants, control the site, start tracing the source and survey the surrounding area.
Moriarty said to manage the risks of spread, a biosecurity control order has been put in place with immediate effect, restricting movement within the surrounding 5km area of the site in Wardell.
Department of Primary Industry teams will support the local businesses and community who will need to lock down movement of landscaping, gardening, and building materials plus machinery until inspected and checked.
Chemically eradicated the infestation
Experienced teams were on site on Saturday and chemically eradicated the infestation and treated a radius of 500 metres from the site.
Following detection of the fire ants the NSW Government instigated its action plan covering – eradication, control, tracing, and engagement of local businesses and community.
Moriarty said the teams were prepared for this discovery of fire ants and immediately implemented a response plan and destroyed the fire ant site.
‘Biosecurity is a shared responsibility and I encourage everyone to continue to check their properties for these pests. With the summer cross-border travel in peak times I ask everyone to be careful of what they’re moving and where.’
‘Labor has lost control’ – Littleproud
Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the latest infestation is another sign that Labor has lost control of eradicating the pest.
Mr Littleproud says many times last year he warned that Labor’s $268 million over four years in federal funding to eradicate fire ants risked not being enough.
He said the latest discovery should trigger an urgent review of fire ant eradication funding.
‘The whole country has been put at risk of fire ants because Labor was too slow to act,’ said Mr Littleproud.
No small issue
‘Ballina is one of the most popular tourism areas in the country – it’s no small issue that this slice of paradise risks having its tourism title destroyed by fire ants if Labor doesn’t get on top of this.’
‘The Invasive Species Council warned red imported fire ants were at risk of spreading beyond current containment zones and that parks, school playgrounds and beaches have been closing over summer due to fire ants.
‘The Commonwealth should have been showing leadership on this issue but continued to drag the chain. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt is nowhere to be seen on this.
‘We do not want to see this area go from ‘beautiful one day, fire ant Ballina’ the next.’
Community kept informed
Tara Moriarty said the community will be kept informed of progress.
The team will continue activities with sniffer dogs and boots on the ground to determine the extent of any infestation, undertake genetic testing of the fire ants, as well as engaging and supporting the impacted local community and businesses.
The Littleproud seems a bit upset at in his opinion the ALP’s Fire Ant inaction
Dare we remind the Littleproud that his LibNat mob were in government for 9 years as the Fire Ants kept spreading.
At the end of the day, the Fire Ants don’t care who is in government.
Hopefully a better result will be achieved with Fire Ant control as opposed to the Varroa disaster .
It’s so comforting to know that everything is under control, especially since these measures have proven so effective in the elimination of this horrendous threat to ordinary activities.
These ants were detected in Brisbane in 1980’s and like the cane-toads example is completely beyond the ability of government departments to have any impact. I fail to see the benefit of having the Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littlepr***k trying to capitalise politically on what has historically been the failure, and indeed complicity of the Dept. of Agriculture in the introduction and mismanagement of introduced noxious species. This is a bit like the lamentations of Queenslanders at this moment complaining about the increase in cyclone intensity and frequency after their violent advocacy for more coal-mines and resultant greenhouse effects.
Get used to it , G”)
Yes, Littleproud’s response is convenient, selective and lame. No – fire ants were not detected in Brisbane in the 80s. No – the challenges in eradicating fire ants, are not remotely comparable to those of eradicating cane toads. No – Qlders are not complaining about the increase in cyclone intensity or frequency. Nor do all of them advocate for more coal mines. W did you dumb-down a serious but simple topic
National fire ant eradication program ” detected in 2001, It is thought that they may have arrived up to 20 years earlier. ”
Which they were.
The challenges of eradication are directly comparable and equally as successful.
You must be blind as well as deaf not to have heard innumerable Qlders complaining about the ever-increasing cyclone damage and how the insurance industry is unable to now cope.
It does seem that enough ignorant Qlders (the majority ) have managed to ignore all science and ensure that their government is subsidising the likes of that Indian environmental vandal, Adani ( amongst others ) to destroy their state and poison the Planet with more coal and gas pollution.
Mikhail Baxterchov , you might find people here, are not so easily convinced by propaganda.
Is that “dumb-down” sic. and simplistic enough for you ?
Cheers, G”)
So pretty much native, like dingoes?
Littleproud’s got a nerve His mob were in power 2013 to 2022. Why didn’t they eliminate fire ants?
Greenies won’t allow that which needs to be done. Much the same reason we lost the Emu War.
I don’t know that Littleproud’s a Greenie?
He is the leftist candidate in our electorate
Clearly there are people who have been ignoring the rules about movements of certain materials and equipment from the areas of infestations in Queensland.
Which government will fess-up to feral: rabbits; pigs; foxes; cane toads; horses; Indian-Myna and wild dogs and cats to name a few that have created irrevocable damage to our natural environment and the harm created by extinction of native flora/fauna?
Honestly, pests and disease will always break through our strong border/continental surveillance, including under the LNP, COVID-19.
Cease political game ship and ‘all’ concentrate on how to eradicate the introduced pest.
Yeah governments don’t care no matter Labor liberal national greens teal it’s business as usual for all of them they haven’t done anything about cane toads or feral cats etc so obviously their not going to do anything about fire ants .
Love it that Littleproud comes out with this garbage statement. What did his government do in their 10 years to help solve this problem and add to that the economy. Why aren’t the opposition working on bipartisan answers.
Good one Ken
Deforestation highest in the World in good old SEQ karma cyclones to follow just keep ‘em on your side, along with the Toads Ants and Anastasia – meanwhile I don’t mean to spread fear and despondency but Kevin Hogan is absolutely right, Labors’ NSWRA have just created five hundred ant homes with their vacant buy backs in poor old Lismore.
How can they control red fire ants kill them what about the cane toads they said control mouse the cane toads are spreading 😳 what about the cane toads their spreading they can’t stop them 😳 we should posion them they can’t be stop when the agricultural minister do something about it killing every cane toads we don’t hear about that’s history now red fire ants do something about everything agricultural minister
I don’t trust any of the governments there all a waste of time and money, they probably put the fire Ant’s there it would not surprise me in the least. Just like they control the weather to and every thing Else. 🇦🇺
Umm, what..? If only there was some way to find, read and check the basic facts of topical issues like this. I’d love to know what reliable info source you found, that supports the idea “like they control the weather to and every thing Else.”
I appreciate that the following might be a little inconvenient to your *ahem* theories of politicians conspiring…
Infestations of fire ants have been detected multiple times, since the early noughties. All but two infestations were eradicated, mostly because they were discovered early.
WTF
“The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), formally the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects. It opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force on 5 October 1978.”
Yes of course, Military trained ants! Cheaper than dolphins and they only need one very small device for transmitting and receiving en masse.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Pentagon plans cyber-insect army – 2006
The race to create ‘insect cyborgs’ | Neuroscience | The Guardian – 2013
The Pentagon’s Latest Cyborg Insect: Locust Bomb Sniffers – Forbes – 2020
Cyborg Cockroach Helps Locate Earthquake Survivors – Science Times – 2023
So they could if they wanted to. But Jacqueline was implying that they may have placed normal fire ants over the border for political or financial purposes. Which is entirely possible. Or maybe their opposition. These things do happen.
See the fire ant raft! No way these ants can be stopped.
Ken could stop them!
And Davey Littlieproud as well
I think Ken is focused on black ants!