The Minns Labor Government's Red Imported Fire Ant Biosecurity team has intercepted a delivery of turf at a Byron Shire private property and undertaken eradication actions following the detection of the fire ants contained in the turf transported from Queensland.
The NSW Government has been diligently implementing its red imported fire ant plan that focuses on education and awareness raising, detection, eradication, tracing, and surveillance in the Northern Rivers and Tweed.
The initial possible red imported fire ant report was made by a vigilant landscaping contractor installing pallets of turf delivered from southeast Queensland.
The NSW Fire Ant Program team and detection dogs were onsite within two hours of the report being received by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) biosecurity division.
Samples were collected from the site and transported directly to the NSW Government's Wollongbar Primary Industries Institute, where diagnostic entomologists confirmed the positive identification for the invasive species on Thursday 13 November.
Individual Biosecurity Directions have been served on the turf supplier and landscape contractor to ensure there is no further movement of the lawn materials.
DPIRD biosecurity team members used sniffer dogs and systematically searched around 140m2 of turf to locate the ants and the site will be treated to ensure that the area is free form ants.
In collaboration with the NSW team the National Fire Ant Eradication Program are undertaking investigations with the Queensland based lawn turf supplier to ascertain why there were fire ants in the turf despite appropriate documentation being supplied that certified the turf was treated before transport.
There are strict restrictions for moving material from control areas. Breaching the emergency biosecurity order carries penalties of up to $1.1 million for an individual and up to $2.2 million for a corporation.
Residents and businesses can report any suspicious ant activity to 1800 680 244 or by visiting www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/forms/report-exotic-ants
Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) are prohibited matter under the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015 and a long standing Biosecurity Emergency Order is in place to regulate the movement of high-risk materials from fire ant infested areas into or around NSW.
Fire ants are dark reddish-brown with a darker black-brown abdomen and range in size from two to six millimetres long.
