Fire ants: The solution to eliminate ‘super pests’ from the Gold Coast
City leaders will meet with state Minister Mark Furner over the fire ant crisis after the deadly “super pests” were found in a surprise new location just a short distance from the NSW border.
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City leaders will meet with state Minister Mark Furner later this week over the growing fire ant crisis as pressure mounts on the government to reveal its plans for tackling the pests.
Agricultural Minister Mr Furner briefed state Cabinet on the Gold Coast on Monday about the latest infestation at Tallebudgera.
“The latest detection of fire ants at Tallebudgera has been dealt with but we all need to remain vigilant and do everything possible to prevent any further spread,” he said.
“I briefed Cabinet on our ongoing fire ant eradication efforts and how we’re working with Gold Coast City Council to achieve this. I’ll be visiting the Gold Coast again this week to further outline our plans to tackle this pest.”
It was revealed over the weekend, the super pests reached the southern Gold Coast, found in Tallebudgera Valley.
Fire ants were discovered by Council workers at a pony club in the valley, just 5.5km from the NSW border.
They moved more than 8km in a handful of weeks, having most recently been found at Miami High.
The presence of the pests also near The Spit to the north has the city on high alert, with the potential to close down our beaches and various public facilities if the spread gets out of control. This worst case scenario would have a devastating impact on the Coast economy. Mr Furner said all stakeholders had a role in stopping fire ants.
“It’s important to remember everyone has a responsibility to stop fire ants and that’s why we’ve provided $37 million to operate a Fire Ant Suppression Taskforce,” he said.
“This taskforce has been working with Gold Coast City Council to treat 800 hectares of council land and is providing training and on-ground support to staff.
“We’ve also developed an MOU with Canegrowers Rocky Point to eventually self-treat 6000 hectares of sugar cane production area.
“We will continue our efforts to educate agricultural stakeholders and Gold Coast residents on the role they can play in suppressing fire ants.”
Gold Coast councillors have expressed growing concern about the state’s approach to the problem.
Earlier this week Robina councillor Hermann Vorster said the latest discovery showed the state had lost control of the situation.
“While the state dithers on its plan of attack, fire ants continue their biological attack on southern Gold Coast communities,” he said.
“In a frightening escalation, fire ants have now been detected on a community facility in the Tallebudgera Valley – within striking distance of national parks and prime agricultural land.
“Every minute the state delays puts more communities and more of our economy at catastrophic risk of irreparable damage.”
Councillors this year described the spread of the fire ants as a frightening development, as only three years ago they were not predicted to reach Burleigh until 2024.
Fire ants, which are native to South America and first discovered in Brisbane in 2001, are considered one of the world’s worst invasive species because of their rapid spread.
They are highly aggressive and will swarm anything which disturbs their nests.
Their stings can be fatal in rare circumstances.
‘Frightening escalation’: Fire Ants found in shock new location
The rapid spread of fire ants has reached the southern Gold Coast, with the deadly “super pests” found in Tallebudgera Valley.
The creatures were found by Gold Coast City Council workers at a pony club in the valley, just 5.5km from the NSW border.
They moved more than 8km in a handful of weeks, having most recently been found at Miami High.
Pressure is now growing on the state government to reveal its plan to eradicate the creatures.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said an announcement would be made this week.
“I am concerned about that and (Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries) Minister (Mark) Furner will be on the Gold Coast on Monday to address that,” she said.
“He’ll give an update to Cabinet on Monday and I want to see the details of that.”
Robina councillor Hermann Vorster said the latest discovery showed the state government had lost control of the situation.
He said fire ants were “showing better organisation, more determination and prowess than the state government”.
“While the state dithers on its plan of attack, fire ants continue their biological attack on southern Gold Coast communities,” he said.
“In a frightening escalation, fire ants have now been detected on a community facility in the Tallebudgera Valley – within striking distance of national parks and prime agricultural land.
“Every minute the state delays puts more communities and more of our economy at catastrophic risk of irreparable damage.
“It’s just talk, talk, talk and no action. And it’s infuriating those of us who actually value the natural environment like the Burleigh Headland.”
Invasive Species Council spokesman Reece Pianta called on the nation’s agriculture ministers to “stop mucking around”.
“This means that NSW is now at extreme risk of being invaded. The distance is now close enough for a single queen ant’s flight to spark a fire ant infestation across the border,” he said.
“If fire ants spread across Australia they will be worse than rabbits, cane toads, foxes and feral cats combined and they are now racing towards the NSW border, but our governments are stuck like rabbits in the headlights.
“This latest outbreak should be a massive wake up call to federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt and his state and territory counterparts.
“They need to stop mucking around and get on with an urgent ramp up of the eradication program. There are no excuses for further delay, underfunding and inaction.”
It comes just days after the council took aim at the agreement, which was struck earlier this month between the nation’s Agriculture Ministers to develop a new plan to wipe out fire ants, saying the $60m first tranche of funding would not be anywhere near enough.
An urgent push for the state and federal governments to throw more resources at tackling the ant invasion is gathering steam, with the creatures having reached the Southport Broadwater Parklands, The Spit and the southern Gold Coast.
Deputy Mayor Donna Gates last week said funding was needed after a Queensland Audit Office report identified the need for an additional $593m over the next four years to fight the pests.
Fire ants, which are native to South America and first discovered in Brisbane in 2001, are considered one of the world’s worst invasive species because of their rapid spread.
They are highly aggressive and will swarm anything which disturbs their nests. Their stings can be fatal in rare circumstances.
The council in July commissioned a report outlining the escalating social, economic and biosecurity risks of imported red fire ants.
The recommendation in the report, which will be presented in future talks with the state, is council’s preferred approach will be “eradication of the pest”. However, that requires significant state and federal funding.
‘Sooner rather than later’: Why ‘super pests’ must be wipe out
The state government says urgent funding to fight the rapid spread of fire ants across the Gold Coast is in the pipeline after a deal to bring forward more than $60m was dismissed as a drop in the bucket.
The Invasive Species Council this week took aim at the agreement, which was struck last week between the nation’s Agriculture Ministers to develop a new plan to wipe out fire ants, saying the $60m first tranche of funding would not be anywhere near enough.
There is particular concern around the presence of the deadly pests on the Gold Coast, with the potential to close down our beaches and impact the tourism industry.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said an announcement would soon be made by Agriculture Minister Mark Furner about further action.
“I understand Minister Furner is working very closely with Biosecurity Queensland in relation to this and he will have more to say about this in coming days,” she said.
An urgent push for the state and federal governments to throw more resources at tackling the ant invasion is gathering steam, with the creatures having reached the Southport Broadwater Parklands, The Spit and the southern Gold Coast.
Acting Mayor Donna Gates said funding was needed after a Queensland Auditor Office report identified the need for an additional $593m over the next four years to fight the pests.
“It was the state’s own auditor general’s report which indicated what is necessary and they have allocated $60m but that is for suppression and we would like to see eradication sooner rather than later,” she said.
“There is no additional funding that I am aware of at this point in time and I hope that talks will continue and that result will come from those discussions.
“We are getting more and more notifications every week about more nests.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in June said dealing with the spread of the ants presented a challenge for the city’s economy after a Commonwealth review of response programs found eradication could not be achieved with the current budget.
Fire ants, which are native to South America and first discovered in Brisbane in 2001, are considered one of the world’s worst invasive species because of their rapid spread.
They are highly aggressive and will swarm anything which disturbs their nests. Their stings can be fatal in rare circumstances.
The council this week commissioned a report outlining the escalating social, economic and biosecurity risks of imported red fire ants.
The recommendation in the report, which will be presented in future talks with the state, is council’s preferred approach will be “eradication of the pest”. However, that requires significant state and federal funding.
‘It’s disgusting’: Why $60m isn’t enough to get rid of ‘super pests’
A peak body lobbying to stop the spread of deadly fire ants says a deal to fast-track more than $60m in government funding to fight the creatures is nowhere near enough.
The Invasive Species Council has taken aim at the agreement, which was struck last week between the nation’s Agriculture Ministers to develop a new plan to wipe out fire ants.
There is particular concern around the presence of the deadly pests on the Gold Coast, with the potential to close down our beaches and impact the tourism industry.
Council spokesman Reece Pianta said more funding was needed, warning fire ants had the potential to be “worse than the cane toad”.
“We are already seeing fire ants breach containment lines in Queensland and (last week’s) failure (to commit more money) almost guarantees fire ants will cross the Tweed River into NSW and spread west through the Murray Darling Basin,” he said.
“The ongoing lack of clarity about the fire ant funding going forward undermines eradication efforts and risks all the good work that has been done in recent years.
“A fire ant invasion will be much worse than the cane toad. They will devastate our native wildlife and cause billions of dollars in lost agricultural production every year.
“In Queensland we are already seeing sports fields and beaches closed due to the extremely painful sting inflicted by fire ants.”
The $60m figure was far below the almost $600m the Gold Coast City Council said was needed to wipe the creatures out statewide last week.
City Hall officials were told a Queensland Auditor Office report identified the need for an additional $593m over the next four years to fight the pests.
Robina councillor Hermann Vorster wrote to the Invasive Species Council on Monday asking for its input into how the ants could be eliminated.
“The purpose of this letter is to seek your perspective on the Minister’s ‘announcement’ and your guidance about what will need to be done to fix this mess,” he said.
“While Ministers last week recommitted to eradication, I took no comfort from Senator Murray Watt who failed to secure recurrent funding for the program.
“To my mind, this ties the response to fire ants to the budget cycle and makes the problem a political one apart from an environmental one. How disgusting.
“At a recent council committee meeting, I secured unanimous support for the preparation of a report to pin down the government and speak truth to power but I know this report will be its strongest with the input of the industry.”
An urgent push for the state and federal governments to throw more resources at tackling the ant invasion is gathering steam, with the creatures having reached the Southport Broadwater Parklands, The Spit and the southern Gold Coast.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in June said dealing with the spread of the ants presented a challenge for the city’s economy after a Commonwealth review of response programs found eradication could not be achieved with the current budget.
Fire ants, which are native to South America and first discovered in Brisbane in 2001, are considered one of the world’s worst invasive species because of their rapid spread.
They are highly aggressive and will swarm anything which disturbs their nests. Their stings can be fatal in rare circumstances.
The council this week commissioned a report outlining the escalating social, economic and biosecurity risks of imported red fire ants.
The recommendation in the report, which will be presented in future talks with the state, is council’s preferred approach will be “eradication of the pest”. However, that requires significant state and federal funding.
‘A very real threat’: The solution to eliminate ‘super pests’ from Coast
More than $60m in government funding will be brought forward to combat the spread of fire ants, with Gold Coast-based federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt vowing it’s just the beginning of a renewed fight to eradicate the super pests.
The nation’s Agriculture Ministers met in Western Australia on Thursday and unanimously agreed to develop a new plan to wipe out fire ants, with the Queensland government to take the lead.
There is particular concern around the presence of the deadly pests on the Gold Coast, with the potential to close down our beaches and impact the tourism industry.
Mr Watt said most states would bring forward funding to ramp up the fight against fire ants and said he expected more money would be allocated in coming years.
“As a Queenslander, fire ants are a very real threat in southeast Queensland right now and thanks to the great work of the state government the growth of this population has at least been controlled and not spread as far as it could,” he said.
“What we have agreed to today is that we will work on a new proposal led by Queensland for the eradication of red imported fire ants beyond 2023.
“All ministers understand the importance of maintaining momentum in this fight and we are unified on the need to contain and eradicate them under a new national plan.”
Mr Watt said the $60m would be spent this financial year while the next tranche of funding commitments would be decided when state and federal governments go through their budget processes.
“The reality is we need to go through the budgetary process before we come out at a press conference and announce funding,” he said.
“We cannot put a dollar figure on it but I can assure you that minsters are united in taking serious action to ensure they do not spread any further.”
However the $60m figure is far below the almost $600m the Gold Coast City Council said was needed to wipe the creatures out statewide earlier this week.
Council was told a Queensland Auditor Office report identified the need for an additional $593 million over the next four years to fight the pests.
An urgent push for the state and federal governments to throw more resources at tackling the ant invasion is gathering steam, with the creatures having reached the Southport Broadwater Parklands, The Spit and the southern Gold Coast.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in June said dealing with the spread of the ants presented a challenge for the city’s economy after a Commonwealth review of response programs found eradication could not be achieved with the current budget.
Fire ants, which are native to South America and first discovered in Brisbane in 2001, are considered one of the world’s worst invasive species because of their rapid spread.
They are highly aggressive and will swarm anything which disturbs their nests. Their stings can be fatal in rare circumstances.
The council this week commissioned a report outlining the escalating social, economic and biosecurity risks of imported red fire ants.
The recommendation in the report, which will be presented in future talks with the state, is council’s preferred approach will be “eradication of the pest”. However, that requires significant state and federal funding.
Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner, speaking after Thursday’s meeting, said he had met with Deputy Mayor Donna Gates this week about the issue and said he was “impressed” by the funding commitment.
He insisted the state government would continue to work with the council to combat fire ants.
Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton said not enough was being done to combat fire ants during a visit to the Gold Coast on Thursday.
“It is clear Murray Watt has dropped the ball … it is a very significant issue particularly for a tourist destination and I worry that the Palaszczuk Government has refused to make decisions or investment and support to the Gold Coast City Council which will result in a much more expensive problem to fix,” Mr Dutton said.
But Mr Watt hit back, insisting the threat of the invasion was being taken seriously.
“I don’t think anyone needs to be concerned that this group of ministers might not be taking this seriously, I am very conscious of the concerned on the Gold Coast community if we do not take serious action,” he said.
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