Red Imported Fire Ants (RIFA)

Recent heavy rain has impacted the treatment of fire ants in and around Murwillumbah ... treatment program will resume in Murwillumbah when the ground dries out ... treatment can only be applied with the written consent of the property owner.

Fire ants have been discovered in Wardell, south of Ballina, New South Wales, after Labor was too slow to act on its red imported fire ant response program. Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the latest infestation, 85 kilometres south of the Queensland  border, is another sign that Labor has lost control of eradicating the pest.

Farmers are calling for a major effort to stamp out fire ants in NSW after the insidious pests were discovered near Ballina. According to the NSW Government, the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) detected a Red Imported Fire Ant nest at Wardell, south of Ballina on Friday.

Fire ants have made it to Wardell. NSW Department of Primary Industries said there is an exclusion zone of 5km around Wardell in an attempt to halt the spread of fire ants after a resident contacted them.

Following the eradication of the five red imported fire ants nests at South Murwillumbah on the weekend, the NSW Government has been further implementing its fire ant plan by focusing on tracing, surveillance and educating local businesses and the community. Detection dogs have been on location ... inspecting local high-risk premises...

A special community information drop-in hub has been established to provide support to businesses and residents after red imported fire ants were detected at South Murwillumbah. Located in front of Council administration office  in Murwillumbah, the information hub is staffed by invasive pest specialists...

NSW Farmers is aware that there has been a detection of Red Imported Fire Ants in South Murwillumbah. This incursion is a threat to agricultural production and to the landscape of NSW ... Authorities must act quickly to eradicate this population of Red Imported Fire Ants.

Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has welcomed a Senate Inquiry into the spread of red imported fire ants. Mr Littleproud said the inquiry was urgently needed, with Labor losing control of its National Fire Ant Eradication Program and failing to commit to the funding required.

NSW Farmers says the federal government must force importers to pay for the biosecurity threats they create. The calls came after authorities admitted defeat on eradicating Varroa mite after more than a year of fighting the invasive pest.

Media reports of  a new government plan to combat the spread of Red Imported Fire Ants only serve to further highlight the government’s continuing failure to fulfil one of its most basic responsibilities ... CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan has said ... a much smaller treatment area around the Scenic Rim and Gold Coast will be targeted, effectively allowing one of the most dangerous and destructive invasive species in the world to continue spreading north and west unhindered.