Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said the latest detection of fire ants in northern New South Wales shows the former Queensland Labor Government was too slow to act on the Senate inquiry report Red imported fire ants in Australia – ‘don’t let this come back to bite us’.

Mr Littleproud said the Clunes discovery, between Byron and Lismore, comes after previous findings of fire ants in Murwillumbah and Wardell.

“Another discovery of fire ants in northern New South Wales is unfortunately a legacy of the former Queensland Labor Government,” Mr Littleproud said.

“Federal Labor spent more than six months before releasing its response, waiting until the Queensland state election was over.

“Critically, the first recommendation was that the Australian Government review the current level of funding with the state governments.

“This never happened and in the meantime the Queensland Labor Government was too focused on its closing down sale, with former Premier Steven Miles more worried about being re-elected than eradicating fire ants. 

“As a result, community safety, productivity and our future way of life has been put at risk.”

The Australia Institute recently warned Queensland households could be hit with an annual bill of $188 million, if fire ants aren’t eradicated.

Mr Littleproud also warned many times last year that Labor’s $268 million over four years in federal funding to eradicate fire ants risked not being enough.

“Labor’s funding was needed urgently for the 2023-2027 response plan, but was delayed until the end of 2023, which put the time-critical response at risk.

“The lack of action and the delays in funding undermine previous work that had been done under the Coalition Government to control fire ants.”