The threat of Red Imported Fire Ants is, unfortunately, lingering above our heads, or perhaps better said at our feet, with the recent discovery at Oakey.
It would be fair to say that this is a worrying development in our nation’s fight to eradicate fire ants as it means they are now beginning to march further west over the Great Dividing Range.
This is concerning for a variety of reasons, the first of which is the potential impact these pests could have on agriculture if they were to make their way into the Murray Darling Basin.
Given their ability to survive and travel in water, it is entirely possible they could spread across the Murray Darling Basin if containment and eradication efforts are unsuccessful.
It’s been suggested that if Red Imported Fire Ants were to spread across the country it could reduce our nation’s agricultural output by up to 40 per cent costing our economy about $2 billion in the process.
That would be a devastating blow to our country.
On top of that, fire ants could threaten our way of life if they were to spread to our lawns, our sporting fields, and parks.
These pests have the potential to deliver painful bites that in some cases have led to hospitalisation and even death in rare instances.
It is vital that we do all we can as a nation to not only contain Red Imported Fire Ants but to eradicate them.
Up to this stage, the federal Labor government has been too slow to act with The Response Plan saying in July last year that $592 million was required over the next four years to control the pest, including immediate funding for 2023-24
Unfortunately, Labor didn’t commit to the funding until October, which led to unnecessary delays.
It took The Nationals’ calling for a Senate Inquiry for this government to finally act and it is now imperative the Australian Government responds to the Senate Inquiry report including a review of funding.
The Nationals will continue to call on this government to do the right thing and ensure every measure is taken to ensure this pest doesn’t spread across our great country.
