The time for talking is over! Immediate, large-scale, effective action is what's required if we're to have any hope of halting the march of Red Imported Fire Ants, CANEGROWERS Chairman Owen Menkens has said.
Mr Menkens, who is touring the Burdekin cane-growing region today with National Farmers' Federation President David Jochinke, accused the state and federal governments of failing in their duty to protect Australians from the dangerous invasive species.
"Sugarcane growers have been sounding the alarm on this problem for almost 20 years. Our members in Rocky Point have been on the frontline of this war and they've seen firsthand the inadequate and ineffective attempts at containment and eradication to date.
"It has impacted their lives and their livelihoods, but despite their persistent warnings, the state and federal governments have failed to commit the resources necessary to tackle this problem, and now it may be too late."
With over 100 fire ant nests recently discovered on an Australian Defence Force base at Oakey, west of the Great Diving Range, one of the world's most invasive species is now within striking distance of the entire country.
Mr Menkens said other state and territory governments also shared responsibility for the failure to eradicate the pest.
"This is a biosecurity problem with huge ramifications for the entire country, but until now, other state and territory governments have treated it as a Queensland problem.
"We are seeing the consequences of that approach now, with fire ants already in New South Wales and practically on the doorstep of Victoria and South Australia. If they reach SA, how long will it be before they're in West Australia and the Top End?
"We know these pests can travel huge distances via waterways using a technique known as rafting. Now that they're west of the Great Dividing Range, in the heart of the Murray Darling Basin, they could easily spread throughout the whole of eastern Australia in a very short time."
Mr Menkens called on all state and territory governments to join with the federal government and commit whatever resources are necessary to win the battle against fire ant once and for all.
"We need a program that is properly resourced with hundreds, maybe thousands of boots on the ground every single day seeking out and destroying these nests.
"We don't need more reviews and broken funding promises. We need leadership, and real, large-scale containment and eradication action, and we need it immediately.
"Stop talking about it, just do it."
