Biosecurity breakdown – government failing Australians

challenges faced by rural communities,” said Alliance Chief Executive Susi Tegen.

“The Alliance is now a vibrant organisation, highly in demand for information, solutions and recommendations on rural health matters and valued for its unique position in the health sector, as an infuential voice for the 7 million people living in rural Australia and the health workers who support them.

the need to keep up the political pressure.

Soon after the endorsement of the Strategy by health ministers, the Commonwealth health department supported the establishment of the National Rural Health Alliance as an umbrella group for the diverse stakeholders in the rural health sector.

There were 12 groups represented at the frst annual general meeting, now recognised as Foundation Members.

We continue to work with many of these original groups on the important principles agreed at the inaugural conference.

The Alliance has continued to grow in infuence and witnessed a wealth of changes and initiatives in the rural health sector. However, people in rural areas still face a greater burden of disease, despite their ongoing and signifcant contribution to Australia’s economy.

“With the Alliance membership now comprising 47 national organisations, as well as hundreds of Friends of the Alliance, we are in a unique position to turn around the

“I’m thankful to our Members, Friends and partners, members of the Board and Council, as well as our dedicated staff, without all of whom – past and present – this journey would not have been possible. We also recognise and appreciate the ongoing support of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

“We have come a long way and made great progress. However, we have a longer journey ahead to achieve our collective vision of healthy and sustainable rural, regional, and remote communities across Australia,” Ms Tegen concluded.

The National Rural Health Alliance (the Alliance) comprises 47 national organisations committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the 7 million people in rural and remote Australia. Our diverse membership includes representation from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, health professional organisations, health service providers, health educators and students.

Today’s media reports of a new government plan to combat the spread of Red Imported Fire Ants only serve to further highlight the government’s continuing failure to fulfl one of its most basic responsibilities – the protection of Queensland’s environment, industries, and way of life from the threat of invasive pests and diseases, CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan has said.

Just weeks after a damning strategic review of the National Red Imported Fire Ant Eradication Program was reported in the media, State and Territory governments met in Perth where they agreed to a new strategy of containment and eradication.

At that time, it was reported that the new plan would see a 10km wide eradication zone encircling southeast Queensland, from Caboolture in the north to Coolangatta in the south, which would undergo broadscale treatment to contain and prevent further spread outside already infested areas.

Under the new plan the treatment zone would gradually shrink, containing the destructive pest to a smaller and smaller area, until they could be fnally eradicated by 2032.

However, no one has actually seen the new plan until now, with reports that a lack of funding and resources will make this strategy virtually impossible to implement.

Instead, a much smaller treatment area around the Scenic Rim and Gold Coast will be targeted, effectively allowing one of the most dangerous and destructive invasive species in the world to continue spreading north and west unhindered.

“We’ve seen the destruction and devastation these ants have caused in other parts of the world,” Mr Galligan said.

“There is no question, we must stop them from spreading to other parts of the state and country, and we must eradicate them in the areas already infested.

“Unfortunately, the government allowed the continued spread of fre ants for two years while it sat on a damning report that outlined in very clear terms that a lack of funding, resourcing, and leadership was hamstringing the program and preventing it from achieving its goal – the eradication of Red Imported Fire Ants.”

Mr Galligan said that while under-resourcing was a huge issue, the program’s problems went much deeper than money.

“The government has made much of its new Fire Ant Suppression Teams (FAST) and how effective they will be at rapidly treating infestations, but our growers in the Rocky Point district south of Brisbane have seen frsthand just how ineffective eradication has been to date.

“Treatments are being conducted without clear and consistent communication with the local community, leading to infested areas being missed by the FAST team. The bottom line is, a lot of time and taxpayer money is being wasted on ineffcient treatment, which is clearly not preventing the spread of fre ants.

“All State and Territory governments, together with the Federal Government, must fully fund and resource an eradication program that has the leadership and expertise to actually get the job done. It is critical to the future of our industries and our way of life.”

Rocky Point cane grower Greg Zipf said recent efforts to suppress fre ants around the district had left “gaping holes” in the treatment area, rendering the whole process an expensive waste of time.

“Really poor communication between the FAST team, their contractors, and the local community is one of the biggest problems we face and it’s effectively torpedoing any chance we have of containing these ants,” Mr Zipf said.

“The local growers here spent a huge amount of manhours putting together information on infestations and mapping out nest sites on their properties.

“All of this info was provided to the FAST team. Whether they didn’t pass it on to their contractors or the contractors just decided to do their own thing, I’m not sure, but when the aerial treatment occurred there were huge gaping holes left in the treated area which made the whole the process a huge waste of time.”

The failure of the Fire Ant Eradication Program is indicative of a wider failure of the nation’s biosecurity system, Mr Galligan said.

“Australia is overrun with invasive species. Whether its cats, dogs, horses, camels, foxes, cane toads, ants or, probably the most problematic at the minute, feral pigs, we are simply not doing enough to tackle the destruction and devastation these species wreak on the natural environment and our industries.

“Agriculture loses hundreds of millions of dollars every year to feral pigs alone. They destroy farmland and crops, but also our native fora and fauna, yet they are breeding at unprecedented levels and most efforts to deal with this threat are complete failures.

“It’s time that state and national politicians started to fulfl their responsibilities to protect this country from the onslaught of invasive species.”