00:02During a routine check at the Enfield Intermodal Logistics Centre,
00:06biosecurity officials make an unwelcome discovery,
00:09a nest of red imported fire ants.
00:12One nest was found on that site. We have taken them out.
00:15The invasive pest was found late last month
00:18but made public today after genetic testing.
00:21These are a new type of ants.
00:23They're likely to have come in from overseas through port botany.
00:26Fire ants are one of the worst pests in the world.
00:30Their bites can be extremely painful and sometimes even deadly.
00:34What they do is not only one ant bites,
00:37but they put out a pheromone which attracts other ants.
00:39So all the ants attack, so there's multiple wounds.
00:42South-east Queensland is currently battling a fire ant infestation
00:46while a nest was detected in tweed heads in northern New South Wales last year.
00:51Authorities are now urging thousands of residents
00:53as well as businesses close to the Enfield site
00:55to check pot plants and soil are ant free.
00:59There's a 93% chance that the ants will spread
01:02to within 500 metres of that site.
01:05A control order will be in place in the coming weeks
01:07to limit the movement of high-risk materials
01:10including plants, sand, dirt and mulch between businesses.
01:14Biosecurity is everybody's responsibility,
01:16so we want the community to help us
01:18to have a look for these red imported fire ants.
01:20One
01:21one
01:22two
01:23two
01:23two
