Fire ant reports are surging and the national eradication program is struggling to keep up

Fire ant reports are surging but the national eradication program is struggling to keep up. It could be a $22bn mistake.

A fire ant nest in Riverhills, Brisbane. Picture: Anthony Young

Response times from the National Fire Ant Eradication program have blown out and industry noncompliance has doubled amid a surge in public reports of the highly invasive pests within the suppression zone set up by authorities.

Environmental campaigners fear the delays and noncompliance are a sign of under-resourcing and could jeopardise the costly campaign to eradicate the ants, which have spread throughout southeast Queensland since entering the country via the Port of Brisbane in 2001.

Fire ants, which have a severe sting that can be fatal to humans, also pose significant risks to native wildlife and livestock, and can damage crops.

Run from within Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the national program has a response target of 12 days following a complaint, but the influx of reports has seen that blow out to six weeks in some cases.

The blowout is despite a significant increase in funding from state and federal governments to expand the program and provide 350 new workers, a new depot, new vehicles, new aerial eradication contracts and an additional 1400 tonnes of bait each year.

Last year the eradication program changed its target response date from seven to 12 days, but the target is not being met and some reports of fire ant nests within the suppression area are taking three weeks for a response, according to the Invasive Species Council.

Harry and Owen Young inspect a fire ant nest in Riverhills, Brisbane. Picture: Anthony Young

“With all the attention on finance, there’s been a huge number of community reports come in,” he said. “People are finding fire ants and reporting them, and that’s great, but what’s happened is that response times have blown out.

“The average in May was six weeks, and I’ve seen instances of it taking up to three months.

“If you’ve got a huge number of fire ant nests inside the suppression zone, the likelihood of them getting into a shipment of hay or lawn increases because they can spread to enter those shipments and move to new locations.

“It’s a problem for the whole country.”

A National Fire Ant Eradication Program spokesman said the organisation endeavoured to respond to all suspect ant reports as soon as possible.

“Given the high profile of the program’s work and the high levels of community engagement, the program has been receiving higher-than-normal reporting levels,” he said.

“Between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, we received close to 40,000 suspect ant reports.”

Assessment of the program’s recent reports reveals noncompliance from “high-risk” businesses subject to restrictions aimed at preventing spread of the ants has risen from 12 per cent in 2022-23 to 23 per cent.

Breaches of soil and plant movement rules were believed to be behind the spread of the invasive insects into northern NSW and at Oakey, west of Toowoomba.

Mr Pianta said the audits showed businesses were not well-enough informed of their responsibilities, and he called on greater funding for awareness programs.

Modelling released this year by The Australia Institute estimated the ants would cost the government $22bn in health consultations and control measures by 2040 if not properly treated.

Anthony Young, who reported fire ants in a public park in the western Brisbane suburb of Riverhills in late April said he had not received a follow-up call from the eradication program.

He said it was several weeks before any of the nests were treated.

He returned to the nests last week and noted they were still active.

“For me, the frustration is if a member of the public reports it and they hear nothing back, they’re not going to report the next one,” he said.

“It compromises our response.”