Donate
Donate
Donate

Fire ant fight 2.0: A battle we must win

On Wednesday, 26 July, Australia’s agriculture ministers signed off on a new, $411 million eradication program. Fire ant fight 2.0 is a fight we must win.
Facebook Linkedin X-twitter Envelope
[print-me target=".print-body, .print-title" do_not_print=".noprint"/]

Australia’s agriculture ministers have signed off on the new $411 million fire ant eradication program and pressed go on one of the biggest biosecurity operations ever undertaken in the country.

So much is at stake. Fire ants are a serious environmental, health and agricultural pest in Australia. If not eradicated they will have a greater impact than rabbits, cane toads, foxes, camels, wild dogs and feral cats combined, and cost the economy more than $1 billion a year.

In the US where they are out of control, fire ants have caused the deaths of almost 100 people, wiped out native species and impacted all aspects of life.

Congratulate your agriculture minister

Sign the form below to send a thank-you message to state and federal agriculture ministers for the leadership they have demonstrated by supporting fire ant eradication.

Select your state and we will send your message (personalise it if you like) to the Deputy Prime Minister and agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, along with your own state or territory agriculture minister.

Why we still have fire ants

Despite 16 years of eradication efforts, the area infested with fire ants is still incredibly large – over 400,000 hectares. Eradicating fire ants from such a large area has been incredibly complex.

We now know that if more resources had been poured into eradication during the early stages Australia would probably be fire ant free. Recently, funding became uncertain and was capped, resulting in insufficient baiting and a lack of public support for controlling fire ant movement, allowing the ants to spread. Past reviews have also highlighted deficiencies in the program that were slow to be rectified.

A major independent expert review of Australia’s fire ant eradication program released in December 2016 called for more funding – $38 million a year over ten years. It also called for a permanent oversight body. By ensuring the program is properly funded and has the right structures, success will be more likely.

A long hard fight

Eradicating fire ants from Australia remains technically feasible, but the operation will be long, complex and require everybody in the affected areas and beyond to play a role.

It will require sufficient funds and an open and independent structure that builds trust and learns from the lessons of the past.

That’s why we have released a seven-point plan on the essential governance requirements for the national red imported fire ant eradication program. These are:

  1. Design an effective governance approach, including by consulting stakeholders and seeking the advice of experts.
  2. Ensure structures and processes provide robust oversight and accountability to funders, industry and the community.
  3. Make sure decision-making is transparent so that stakeholders understand the rationale for decisions and can have confidence in the program.
  4. Develop a comprehensive eradication plan that includes techniques, costings, assumptions, milestones, roles and responsibilities.
  5. Create an independent body to ensure the program is managed effectively.
  6. Involve experts from relevant fields for program design, advice and review.
  7. Make sure the community and industry is meaningfully engaged in the program.

These detailed management and decision-making structures will be the most effective way to spend the fire ant eradication money.

Our last chance

The independent review made it very clear that the window of opportunity to eradicate fire ants from Australia is closing – the identification of fire ants on the Sunshine Coast in July is a terrible reminder of how easy it is for these ants to spread to new areas.

Thankfully in July Australia’s agriculture ministers set a clear course that ensured we have the best chance to eradicate this deadly invader.

Many organisations had joined our statement of concern that had been calling for a full, ten-year eradication program, including the National Farmers Federation, AgForce, CANEGROWERS, Local Government NSW, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and the North Queensland Conservation Council.

There is no aspect of our lives that will not be impacted by a fire ant infested Australia. We are extremely pleased that our agriculture ministers showed the leadership required to get the job done.

Congratulate your agriculture minister

Sign the form below to send a a thank-you message to our state and federal agriculture ministers for fully fund fire ant eradication.

Select your state and we will send your message (personalise it if you like) to Deputy Prime Minister and agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, along with your own state or territory agriculture minister.

More info

Related Content

Look, snap and report: Join the fire ant fight these School Holidays
‘It’s dangerous’: Misinformation risks further fire ant spread
Join the fire ant fighters!

Hear from us when it matters

Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Our Work

About Us

Email Preview

Dear [your member of parliament],

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

Email copy here …

Email copy here …

Email copy here …

Email copy here …



Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]


Your gift is a lifeline for nature.

Our protected areas are being trashed, trampled, choked and polluted by an onslaught of invaders. Invasive species are already the overwhelming driver of our animal extinction rate, and are expected to cause 75 of the next 100 extinctions.

But you can help to turn this around and create a wildlife revival in Australia.

From numbats to night parrots, a tax-deductible donation today can help defend our wildlife against the threat of invasive weeds, predators, and diseases.

As the only national advocacy environment group dedicated to stopping this mega threat, your gift will make a big difference.

Donate Today

Do you need help?

Accordion Content

A silent crisis is unfolding across Australia. Every year, billions of native animals are hunted and killed by cats and foxes. Fire ants continue to spread and threaten human health. And the deadly strain of bird flu looms on the horizon. Your donation today will be used to put the invasive species threat in the media, make invasive species a government priority, ensure governments take rapid action to protect nature and our remarkable native wildlife from invasives-led extinction, death and destruction.

Donate Now

If you are having technical trouble making a donation, please read this guide.

Please fill out the following form and one of our team will be in contact to assist as soon as possible. Please make sure to include any helpful information, such as the device you were using (computer, tablet or mobile phone) and if known, your browser (Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Safari etc).

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
This field is hidden when viewing the form
Drop files here or
Accepted file types: jpg, gif, png, docx, doc, pdf, txt, Max. file size: 10 MB, Max. files: 4.

    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]


    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]