NSW budget 2024: $946m to fight feral pigs and fire ants

Feral pigs are in the firing line as the Minns government spends more than $13 million to eradicate the pest across the state as part of a $946 million biosecurity package.

Feral pigs damage crops, destroy land and spread disease. Picture: Supplied

Feral pigs are in the firing line as the Minns government spends more than $13 million to eradicate the pest across the state after more than 100,000 pigs were killed in eight months.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the funding will form part of a $946 million biosecurity package to be included in Tuesday’s budget.

The package, designed to fight biosecurity threats across the state, will bulk up the piggy bank for the feral pig program which culled 102,141 pigs in the eight months since the program started: 15,000 more than the original target.

The program was set up after feral pigs ran rampant over agricultural land, damaging crops and spreading disease to livestock and native animals.

Feral pigs are in the firing line as the Minns government spends more than $13 million to eradicate the pest across the state.

The funding for wild pigs will form part of a $415 million spend to eradicate current invasive species across the state.

More than $250 million also will be invested in biosecurity programs to eradicate red fire ants, bee-killing Varroa mites and the White Spot disease that cripples prawn farms.

Of this, more than $55 million will be spent to eradicate red fire ants from Northern NSW.

A $217 million injection will focus on the prevention of future biosecurity threats, pay for the state’s first Biosecurity Commissioner and fund the Bio Lab Defence, which develops scientific defences to battle pests and weeds.

This will include $25 million to boost specialist scientific skills needed to develop new preventive measures against future risks.

NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said the new package was about protecting the state’s farming communities and keeping the cost of food affordable for families.

“Strong biosecurity protections are not just about keeping pests and weeds out,” she said.

“It is about protecting the state’s $22 billion agriculture industries and ensuring families across the state have access to the world’s best produce at the world’s best prices.”