In scenes reminiscent of COVID-19 border restrictions, vehicles are being stopped and inspected at the Queensland-New South Wales border.
But rather than keeping the virus out of the Sunshine State, NSW is trying to keep out another potentially deadly threat — fire ants.
Officials from the NSW police and the Department of Primary Industries have been checking vehicles at the border for material that may contain the harmful and invasive pest.
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Superintendent Greg Moore said the operation on Friday was about “prevent(ing) the spread of fire ant into this jurisdiction”, as well as creating some “public awareness” about the issue.
“There is a (control) order in place for fire ant carrier-related materials from southeast Queensland,” he said.
“Essentially, that would be soil, hay bales, or any soil-related matter that might have the capability (to carry) the fire ant pest.”
The control order, made by the NSW Chief Plant Protection Officer Satendra Kumar in February, prohibits the import of earth-moving equipment, soil, turf, mulch, pot plants and baled material that has been packed or sourced from a “known invasive ant-infested area”.
Breaches of the order can carry fines of up to $1.1 million for an individual and up to $2.2 million for a corporation.
The fire ant situation has been deteriorating in southeast Queensland, particularly on the Gold Coast, which is a known hotspot.
The ants were detected at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast, just 5.5 km north of the border, just over a month ago.
Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty last month visited the Tweed Heads border region to meet with biosecurity officers.
“We have had restrictions in place for many months now to ensure that high-risk materials including soil, hay, fodder, mulch, manure, quarry products, turf and potted plants are not unlawfully moved into NSW,” she said on August 16.
“We expect that more people will be transporting fodder across the border as seasonal conditions deteriorate in some areas of NSW, and that we’ll see increased demand for landscaping and building supplies as the weather warms up.
“The best defence we have is individual responsibility and to have everyone observing the rules around the safe movement of these materials, so it’s important that everyone is aware of how they can help prevent the spread of these invasive pests.”
The Invasive Species Council says modelling shows an invasion of fire ants could lead to 3000 anaphylactic reactions per year in Australia.
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