The discovery of a nest of red fire ants just 5.5km from New South Wales’ northern border has prompted calls for urgent action to stop the spread of the destructive invasive insect.
The nest, found at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast, is the farthest south the pest has been detected, prompting accusations that governments have been dragging their feet on properly funding eradication programs.
The Invasive Species Council said the discovery of fire ants so close to NSW meant the state was at “extreme risk” of being invaded, with a single queen ant’s flight now enough to spark an infestation.
“If fire ants spread across Australia they will be worse than rabbits, cane toads, foxes and feral cats combined,” said Reece Pianta, the council’s spokesperson.
The council last week warned it expected the ants to spread into NSW and western Queensland, after the nation’s agriculture ministers failed to reach a new funding agreement for eradication and control programs.
The ministers agreed to bring forward up to $60m that had been allocated to be spent next year, the last of a pool of $400m set aside for fire ant control in 2017.
The $400m fund was meant to last until 2027, but the problem has already reached such a scale the money will run out in mid-2024.
The ministers aren’t expected to sign off on a new national strategy to tackle fire ants until next year, after the states prepare each of their individual budgets.
On Friday the federal agriculture minister, Murray Watt, conceded “additional effort” would be needed to achieve eradication targets, although he said the species’ spread had already been “significantly slowed” by control programs.
“As a senator based on the Gold Coast, I am acutely aware of the ongoing risks from the spread of fire ants,” he said.
The NSW government separately announced last month it would spend an additional $80m in an effort to keep fire ants out.
It has been contacted for comment over the discovery of the new nest in Tallebudgera.
The National Farmers Federation’s chief executive, Tony Mahar, welcomed the NSW government’s announcement. But he said it was “staggering” that governments weren’t spending more on what he described as an “environmental and potentially social disaster”.
“These are an incredibly invasive species that can not only wreak havoc on agriculture but on communities,” Mahar said.
“These things are a really nasty pest and I have to say successive governments at the state and commonwealth level have not done enough to eradicate what is an incredibly dangerous and invasive species.”
The venomous insect, which can inflict a painful bite on humans and colonise vast areas, has infested much of south-east Queensland after it was first detected in 2001.
Failing to stop the spread of the Queensland outbreak could cost the Australian economy more than $1bn a year including through damage to crops and infrastructure, according to a study obtained by Guardian Australia.
