An outbreak of invasive fire ants in one of the largest catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin has experts worried four states could be affected if the pest spreads.
110 invasive fire ants nests have been found at Swartz Barracks , an army air base west of Toowoomba at the top of the Murray Darling Basin river catchment.
The Invasive Species Council said the National Fire Ant Eradication Program advised on April 16 that one fire ant nest had been detected at Swartz Barracks, an army aviation training centre about 30 kilometres west of Toowoomba in southern Queensland.Invasive Species Council advocacy manager Jack Gough said 110 nests had since been confirmed at the base, which sits in the Condamine-Balonne river system and feeds into the basin.
"I think there's concern about how this happened and that remains an open question at the moment," she said.She said the social and economic impact could be disastrous if it was not contained.Fire ants are known for their ability to "raft" during heavy rain and floods, forming floating colonies that can travel hundreds of kilometres through river systems.
"If fire ants get up above the Great Dividing Range, it could potentially get into the Murray-Darling Basin and that could effectively see the fire ants go right down to Adelaide," he said.Mr Gough said finding the nests outside of the control zone and in a high risk area should highlight the need to boost funding for the program, which had recently been reviewed by a Senate committee.
"This is a government agency, they should be leading the way in … checking if there are fire ants on their land," he said.The National Fire Ant Eradication Program is funded by the federal, state and territory governments, but is delivered by Biosecurity Queensland. "Because it's an air base, there is the possibility that this is actually a separate infestation," he said.
Farmer Agriculture Southern Queensland Fire Ants Fire Ant Invasion Army Base Oakey Army Aviation Centre Invasive Species Council National Fire Ant Eradication Program Swartz Barracks Murray-Darling Basin Rebecca Vonhoff David Littleproud
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