Senate inquiry into cost and impact of fire ants underway

ABC NEWS (Australia)

There are calls for more drastic action to be taken to control the spread of fire ants which threaten agriculture and deliver painful bites. A senate inquiry is underway examining the impact of the aggressive pest across Australia.

Transcript

00:00 The inquiry has heard from a range of experts in agriculture and horticulture as well as

00:06 Ag Force this morning and the Invasive Species Council giving evidence of the impact of the

00:12 red imported fire ant, not only to the impacts on South East Queensland but also potentially

00:18 the impacts they could have nationally if they were to break containment lines.

00:23 Now since the population was first discovered in 2001 here in Brisbane, they have worked

00:28 with federal and state governments to work on a suppression and containment line order

00:33 and the concern here for many experts is that we're at a crucial time frame in that suppression

00:38 that we could potentially see an outbreak of fire ants across the nation.

00:43 Now the main concern here from experts is that it's not only just an agriculture problem

00:48 but there are potential for it to have major impacts on the healthcare system as well.

00:53 We did hear that a fire ant bite in evidence that was given to the inquiry is three times

00:57 more likely to cause anaphylaxis than any other stinging insect including the likes

01:02 of bees.

01:03 On top of that, of the population that do get bitten by fire ants, there is also a major

01:07 concern that 7.5% of those that do get bitten do require medical assistance and hospitalisation.

01:15 So that is going to add significant pressure on an already burdened healthcare system.

01:19 There were calls from the panel as well as the Invasive Species Council, the need for

01:25 a wider education program in eradication of fire ants and also for a shift from the current

01:31 suppression that's in place to an eradication program in total.

01:36 Currently there's been about $1 billion that's been invested in the eradication of fire ants

01:40 here in Queensland with a time frame to 2032 and that's in time for the Brisbane Olympic

01:47 and Paralympic Games.

01:48 The concern from experts and the evidence that was given today is that that time frame

01:52 is so crucial within the next few years that that might not actually be achievable if we

01:56 don't do something now.

01:58 That's what they said in evidence that was given about the federal and state government

02:02 assistance and funding.

02:03 Now we are expecting to hear more from public hearings in Newcastle to be held tomorrow

02:09 as well as another hearing to be held in Canberra in the next two weeks.

02:13 There's also a report that's due to be handed down in April this year.

02:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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