Multiple fire ant nests discovered at the tip of the Great Artesian Basin has farmers calling for urgent government action, fearing the pest will spread through one of the world's largest freshwater aquifers and trigger a 40 per cent reduction in agricultural output.
The infestation was found at Oakey, west of Toowoomba, on April 16 and reported just hours after a Senate committee report was handed down two days later and warned of "disastrous consequences" if the pest was not contained.
National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said Queensland and New South Wales farmers had already seen the destructive pest escape containment zones and now it was "dangerously close to the Murray Darling Basin."
"We cannot let this become a national problem, our governments must not stall for a second longer," he said.
"RIFA are a significant national biodiversity threat to Australian agriculture, farming families, and human health.
"Should this nasty pest continue to spread across Australia, this will have detrimental impacts on farm productivity, production viability and on-farm income."
A 2021 strategic review of the $1.2 billion National Fire Ant Eradication Program found the pest could cost the beef industry $300 million per annum, wheat $200m and $130m to other crops if not contained.
Fire ants sting livestock and people, can damage ecosystems beyond repair and cause major destruction to electricity infrastructure, machinery and irrigation, particularly by clogging up pipes.
Invasive Species Council advocacy manager Reece Pianta called on government to act decisively on the Senate reports' ten recommendations, including conducting a rapid review of the program and its funding.
He said it was now "undeniable" there was not enough money for eradication and new outbreaks were diverting vital resources from the main eradication effort.
"This new detection outside the fire ant eradication zone and within the Murray-Darling Basin catchment should mean alarm bells are ringing loudly in the Prime Minister's office," he said.
Texan authorities reported a 40pc reduction in beef productivity and a 10pc loss of arable cropping land after the pest arrived from South America and spread through the US state.
New fire ant nests have also been recently found in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, and in northern NSW.
NSW Farmers president Xavier Martin said fire ants could have been eradicated 20 years ago but for successive governments failing to act decisively enough to stamp them out.
He added that it would soon be too late to eradicate the pest unless governments learnt from the mistakes of their political predeccors.
"We will be left with land and water that we cannot use to produce the food that feeds our nation, and a deadly pest that is changing our way of life in our communities," he said.
Nationals leader David Littleproud reiterated the "urgent" need for Labor to respond to the report recommendations saying the Oakey outbreak could potentially get into the Murray Darling Basin "and that could effectively see the fire ants go right down to Adelaide."
