The Queensland turf industry has launched an attack on efforts to control a highly dangerous and invasive pest after NSW slapped a ban on turf coming over the border.
The ban came after the discovery of fire ants in the Byron Shire last week.
The ants, including six queens, were found at Eureka, 53 kilometres from the Queensland border, despite the turf they were found in being certified as treated and clear before delivery.
The NSW government imposed an emergency control order that no turf could be brought into NSW from fire ant-infested areas of Queensland for the next three months.
NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said it was a precaution while biosecurity officers investigated how the fire ants escaped the containment zone.
“We’ve stopped all turf coming in so that we can see what happened in this particular situation, get our investigation finished, make sure that things are getting treated in the right way,” she said.
Fire ants were intercepted during a turf delivery from Queensland to northern NSW last week. (Supplied: NSW DPI Fire Ant Program)
Turf Queensland president Hugo Struss said the turf industry had been made a “scapegoat for an inadequate” eradication program.
“We’re starting to see a huge load of nests inside the [infestation] zone, not on the boundaries where the program is currently treating, we’re seeing a huge internal load inside the boundary,” he said.
“But this is where all the carrier groups are: this is where the mulch, the hay, the turf, the quarries, this is where they all are.
“Whether it was turf or whether it was a truck driving through the area that picked up a flying queen, whatever it is, it was only a matter of time before there was an incursion elsewhere.”
Mr Struss said there needed to be more focus on killing ants inside the infestation zone and called on the recently elected Queensland LNP government to provide more support.
The Queensland government has been contacted for comment.
NSW is working with the national fire ant eradication program to keep the pest from spreading into the state. (Supplied: NSW DPI Fire Ant Program)
Eradication program claims success
Fire ants pose a significant threat to agriculture and have been responsible for hundreds of deaths in the US since the 1990s.
Fire ant stings can cause a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening.
The National Fire Ant Eradication Program aims to contain the pest to its present infestation area in south-east Queensland and, ultimately, eradicate it.
Acting executive director Marni Manning said it was a challenging time of year, with a high demand for carrier products such as turf ahead of summer and seasonal storm activity.
“Just like turf, fire ants actually love rain because that’s when they are signalled to go up and mate and move,” she said.
Fire ants attack repeatedly and can cause severe reactions such as blistering, pain and even anaphylaxis. (Supplied)
Ms Manning said there would be further meetings with the turf industry this week to discuss ways to improve eradication measures and support the industry.
However, she rejected concerns that the eradication program was not working.
“We’re designed to move from the outside in, and actually squeeze them in and control their populations, and we are having success with that,” she said.
“If we weren’t in this containment approach to eradication, they would be all the way up to the Whitsundays, down to Canberra and out past Longreach.”
