IN the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, immediate action has been taken to ensure fire ant carrying materials sourced from the storm-impacted and infested areas of south-east Queensland are now banned from entering New South Wales while after-effects are assessed.
Until there is a consolidated understanding of the impact on fire ant mobility and locations in the infected areas and outside that region, New South Wales must firstly protect its communities, farms and landscape.
The Group Biosecurity Emergency Permit, which allowed movements of hay from lower-risk areas in the fire ant biosecurity zone of south-east Queensland under certain conditions, will be suspended for one month effective immediately.
To protect primary industries, a crackdown down has been implemented on the movement of materials such as hay, plus instigating increased surveillance and monitoring of movements across the border.
The recent cyclonic high winds, rainfall and flooding has disrupted fire ants in south-east Queensland and consequently, people in those areas may not be aware of fire ants moving into their businesses and stored materials such as hay, soil, landscaping materials, pots and soils.
This follows the NSW Government’s suspension of turf being moved from Queensland Fire Ant Infested Areas into New South Wales from November last year.
The NSW Fire Ant Team has stepped-up efforts to prevent the spread of fire ants with proactive early detection surveillance across northern New South Wales.
The initiative uses specially trained detection dogs and human surveillance teams to monitor high-risk sites to detect and prevent.
This swift response follows the surveillance of multiple fire ant colonies moving in flood waters in Queensland, within the Logan River catchment.
While the catchment flows to the north-east and into Moreton Bay, the risk of mobile fire ant colonies being transported into New South Wales in known carrier materials is increased because they may appear in new Queensland locations.
This suspension of hay movement allows the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to further assess the distribution of fire ants following the flooding events and clearly determine the current biosecurity risk.
Fodder material such as baled hay could be unsuspectedly transported into New South Wales without appropriate processing and endanger New South Wales primary industries.
Other materials such as soil, sand, vegetation and debris are also regulated as high-risk carriers of fire ants and must be treated and handled according to the Order before they can be moved into New South Wales from the Queensland fire ant infested area.
Surveillance will target high-risk locations identified through tracing of fire ant carrier materials, along with areas highlighted by habitat suitability modelling.
Since December, 2023, more than 390 record-of-movement declarations have been made for hay, documenting the movement of over 6500 tonnes of hay into New South Wales.
Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said wind and rain in Queensland has made fire ants mobile. “The temporary suspension of the hay permit is a necessary step to mitigate the movement of these highly invasive pests,” Ms Moriarty said.
“The impacts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are being felt in our agricultural sector in the north of the state. They need our support to get them back on their feet and don’t want a fire ant incursion adding stress and strain to their recovery.
“We have increased surveillance focusing on high-risk areas and are employing advanced tracking and modelling techniques, taking strong preventative measures to stop fire ants.
“Fire ants won’t march into New South Wales. They will either be carried with materials such as soil, mulch, hay and turf, or fly in by natural spread from Queensland, which is why we’re ramping up surveillance in these high-risk areas.
“Biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility, so it’s critical that businesses moving these types of materials comply with the Biosecurity Fire Ant Emergency Order.”
NSW Chief Invasive Species Officer Scott Charlton said fire ants will raft in water as a survival mechanism and move following rain and flooding events.
“The recent videos and images on social media of fire ants forming rafts are no doubt concerning. However, we know from hydrological analysis that ants floating into NSW is not possible,” Mr Charlton said.
“What we can do is mitigate the increased risks of human-assisted movement of fire ants from the infested areas of Queensland and suspend the hay permit.”
