General News
4 September, 2024
Govt’s fire ant response lambasted
Local Member for Groom Garth Hamilton has strongly condemned the federal government’s response to the spread of fire ants, which have the potential to wreak havoc on the Darling Downs.
Mr Hamilton, is demanding the government urgently responds to the Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants in Australia, which was delivered in April 2024.
Earlier this year, Mr Hamilton called on all agencies involved in the fire ant response to prioritise containment, decontamination and communication.
“After the shameful spread of fire ants to the Darling Downs, at a number of sites in and around Oakey, the Albanese Labor government has wasted four months by failing to act on key Senate inquiry recommendations, allowing the eradication zone to explode,” Mr Hamilton said.
“This issue has not been taken seriously by the Labor government, by the former or current Agriculture Minister and they are sitting on their hands.
“They have failed to implement or act on key recommendations they were given in April, in the Senate inquiry’s final report.
“Four whole months have passed and Labor is still ignoring the recommendations, including calls to investigate alternative models for delivery of the eradication program to improve independence, and transparency, improve public engagement and improve the delivery of the eradication program.’
The Committee also identified the urgent need to increase stakeholder engagement and community education, to assist the long-term eradication goal.
“Residents in our region deserve answers and reassurance that the funding is enough, and that the Queensland Labor Government is delivering its eradication program in an effective and timely manner,” Mr Hamilton said.
“But communities are being left in the dark.
“There are huge concerns in our community about the eradication program and its failings.”
The Committee was chaired by Queensland senator Matthew Canavan and included another Queensland senator, Gerard Rennick.
“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,” Senator Canavan wrote in his foreword for the report.
Four of the Committee’s ten recommendations specifically reference the Queensland Government, with one in particular aimed at better collaboration with affected councils within the biosecurity zones.
