On Friday NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty announced measures to keep Red Imported Fire Ants out, with a temporary ban on soil and hay coming into the state from infested areas in southeast Queensland.

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“We’ve all seen the images of wind and rain in Queensland, and this is making the fire ants mobile over the coming weeks,” Minister Moriarty said.

“The temporary suspension of the hay permit is a necessary step to mitigate the movement of these highly invasive pests.

“The impacts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are being felt in our agricultural sector in the north of the state.

“They need our support to get them back on their feet and don’t want a fire ant incursion adding stress and strain to their recovery.

“We have increased surveillance focusing on high-risk areas and are employing advanced tracking and modelling techniques, taking strong preventative measures to stop fire ants.”

NSW Farmers Biosecurity Committee Chair Tony Hegarty said recent footage of fire ant ‘rafts’ in Queensland’s Scenic Rim region had sparked serious concerns around the spread of the ants in the wake of recent flood events.

“We’re seeing thousands of these deadly ants cling together and create massive rafts in Queensland floodwater,” Mr Hegarty said.

“While these rafts haven’t been spotted in NSW as yet, floodwater does spread these ants about, and we can’t be careful enough when it comes to protecting our communities against these pests.”

NSW Chief Invasive Species Officer Scott Charlton said while the mentioned footage is concerning, “we know from hydrological analysis that ants floating into NSW is not possible”.

“What we can do is mitigate the increased risks of human-assisted movement of fire ants from the infested areas of Queensland and suspend the hay permit,” Mr Charlton said.

If allowed to spread throughout Australia, it is estimated fire ants would cost the economy a total of $60 billion dollars in damages, with the ants known to attack livestock, people and pests.

Fire ants are found in southeast Queensland and are known to gather together as large rafts in floodwater as a survival mechanism.

As communities recovered from recent flood events, Mr Hegarty said the measures to stop the ants had come as welcome news to farmers on the front line of the threat.

“NSW deserves a biosecurity system that is proactive and effective when it comes to eradicating extreme biosecurity threats – and that includes fire ants,” Mr Hegarty said.

“A serious biosecurity regime is what we need the NSW Government to deliver, and we thank them for hearing us in this most critical hour.”