A strategic review of Australia’s efforts to control an outbreak of red fire ants warned almost two years ago that an “urgent change of strategy” was needed to prevent the uncontrolled spread of one of the world’s most invasive species.
The Queensland government on Thursday released the August 2021 review of the national fire ant eradication program, which warned pre-existing measures and funding “will not be able to eradicate or contain” the red fire ant outbreak in Brisbane and surrounds.
“In view of the outcomes of the program to date and the current risks of spread, a major change of plan will be needed for any possibility of long term eradication and even for continued mitigation,” the review said.
The review uses the word “urgent” 18 times. But since receiving the 2021 report, authorities have not yet publicly committed to a pivot in strategy, or to one of three options the reviewers set out for an intergovernmental steering committee.
In that time, fire ants have continued to spread in south-east Queensland, and recent finds on the Gold Coast have raised concerns the pests are moving quickly towards New South Wales.
The recommended option is to spend up to $300m a year to eradicate the outbreak of red fire ants before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. The other options are to “contain and suppress” the current outbreak to south-east Queensland, or to wind down the eradication program.
A wind-down would allow fire ants to become established, as they have in parts of the US. The ants are described as a “social menace”, swarm aggressively and inflict a sting that can itch and burn for an hour. In rare cases, people have died from allergic relations.
The review said the uncontrolled spread of red fire ants would have an economic impact of up to $2bn a year.
The Invasive Species Council said it had campaigned for the release of the report, and that it “reveals Australia’s inadequate response to fire ants”.
“‘Fire ants are an inferno – we need to treat it like the emergency that it is,” Reece Pianta, the council’s fire ant campaigner, said.
“The choice is stark. Australia cannot afford to live with a fire ant future, but we are not investing anywhere near enough to prevent it from happening.
“Our governments need to pay the fire ant eradication bill now while we can still afford it.”
Ashley Bacon, program executive from the National Fire Ant Eradication Program, said a new response plan would be put forward to federal and state agriculture ministers and that “eradication is still the goal”.
Addressing questions about whether authorities had dropped the ball in not acting with more urgency to step-up eradication efforts, Bacon said tireless work had been done over the past 18 months.
“In addition to that we’ve increased our engagement with community,” he said.
“These efforts have resulted in fire ants remaining in south-east Queensland, which the report clearly states wouldn’t be possible [without the program].”
The review makes several recommendations, including more aggressive eradication efforts.
It said the Queensland government should expand its biosecurity zone to the NSW border and west to the Great Dividing Range, and “urgently scale up communications, engagement and compliance activities throughout the expanded zone”.
