The red imported fire ant infestation in South East Queensland is perhaps Australia's greatest current biosecurity challenge. The risk of a wider outbreak of red imported fire ants is high given they have evaded all attempts to eradicate them over two decades. The consequence of a broader outbreak is severe affecting agriculture, native species, and human health. Evidence to this Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References committee (the committee) indicated that an Australia-wide outbreak of RIFA could cost Australians $2 billion per annum.

Australia's red imported fire ant response has been hampered by shortfalls in funding, excessive bureaucracy, insufficient coordination between different levels of government, a lack of transparency and a reluctance to involve industry and the private sector in solutions.

This report finds that there is a severe lack of transparency in the plans to eradicate red imported fire ants, and more cooperation with the non-government sector should be undertaken to ensure that any governmental response is leveraging off the widest amount of knowledge available.

This report recommends reviewing funding arrangements and allocations to ensure that the funding is adequate to eradicate red imported fire ants and investigate other models that would improve delivery and transparency in any eradication program. Red imported fire ants pose a significant risk to Australia’s productivity and it’s imperative that all Australian governments act quickly before they spread past the point where eradication is still possible.