A major fire ant outbreak has been confirmed at BHP’s (ASX:BHP) Broadmeadow coal mine located 150km inland from Mackay, marking the first time the invasive super pest has been found in central Queensland.
Advocacy Manager at the Invasive Species Council, Reece Pianta, says the breach is unacceptable and demands immediate action. The outbreak at Broadmeadow is almost 800km from the known infestation zone.
The Invasive Species Council is cautioning every mine site and construction project across the country to be checking for fire ants. Any business or resident that has received materials from South East Queensland needs to check them, Pianta adds.
Pianta is calling for review of the fire ant program has to be launched immediately – with at least $24 million in new funding needed for suppression work. Pianta warns that not putting in the funding needed risks a $2 billion per year hit to the nation’s economy, environmental devastation, and human fatalities.
Fire ants are one of the world’s worst super pests. They are dark reddish-brown with a darker black-brown abdomen and range in size from two to six millimetres long Their ant nests are distinctive mounds of loose, crumbly or fluffy-looking soil with a honeycomb appearance, up to 40 centimetres high, with no obvious entrance holes.
Red imported fire ants can damage electrical and agricultural equipment, sting people, pets and livestock, kill native plants and animals, and damage ecosystems beyond repair.
Commenting on BHP’s outbreak Pianta says: “I am incredibly angry about this. This is not bad luck, it’s a spectacular failure because of known gaps in funding, enforcement and surveillance.”
“Australia’s last chance to eradicate deadly fire ants is being destroyed because governments are dithering and delaying critical funding increases. We have warned for two years that there is a major gap in funding for suppression, with nest densities off the charts, south of Brisbane.
“The Senate inquiry found this. The independent program review found this. The Queensland government has raised this. The federal biosecurity department knows this.
“But every time it has been raised, the message we get back is that new funding is just around the corner if only we will be patient. Well, the time is up. If Australia’s governments do not immediately step in with extra suppression funding, then they are condemning huge parts of Australia to a permanent fire ant future.”
In the past week, the Invasive Species Council had another detection in New South Wales, an interception in Western Australia, in addition to now the first outbreak in Central Queensland.
Pianta says this “failure will shake community confidence in the fire ant eradication efforts and we need to see real action to address that valid concern”.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Invasive Species Council
