Two Queensland businesses have been convicted of breaching biosecurity regulations that are in place to protect NSW from red imported fire ants.

The businesses were ordered by the NSW Local Court to pay $60,000.

Both businesses illegally moved turf, soil, turf underlay and compost from the Queensland fire ant infested area into NSW.

In November last year, Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty banned the movement of any turf from the Queensland fire ant infested area into NSW

The first landscaping supply business was convicted on January 29 and the second on February 7.

The first business, Brytarbri Pty Ltd trading as Allenview Turf, was convicted of nine offences after moving soil, turf underlay and compost into NSW without the required biosecurity certificates.

The second business, Marlyn Compost, was convicted of 20 offences under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015 for moving turf from the Queensland fire ant infested area into NSW without certificates.

Early detection surveillance is continuing across NSW’s border state agencies with detection cameras and operations with police and the Department of Primary Industries.

So far eight penalty notices have been issued and three warnings after teams stopped 352 vehicles, 156 of which were from fire ant infested areas, and ordering 12 vehicles back to Queensland, due to not meeting certification requirements.

The fire ant measures include fire ant sniffer dogs on patrol in Kyogle and Tweed Valley to monitor trucks, landscaping sites and target properties.

The NSW Government’s fire ant team has checked 1,366 voluntary community reports of potential fire ant sightings since 2023.

“There will be no sympathy for a business who flouts our biosecurity controls and threatens our state’s land, homes and farms with fire ants. The full force of the law will be instigated to show this is very serious and will not be tolerated,” Ms Moriarty said.

“We are applying monitoring, CCTV, police, sniffer dogs, controls and border checks to address the fire ant situation as well as supporting the Queensland Government to eradicate their infestation.”

There have been fire ant nests previously discovered at Wardell in January 2024 and at Clunes in November 2024.

The information in this report was provided by the NSW Government.

This article appeared on indyNR.com on 12 February 2025.