
Stinging deaths, back yard poisons and billions spent: model predicts Australia's fire ants future
Australian households will spend $1.03bn every year to suppress fire ants and cover related medical and veterinary costs, with about 570,800 people needing medical attention and 30 likely deaths from the invasive pest's stings, new modelling shows.
The Australia Institute research breaks down the impact of red imported fire ants (Rifa) by electorate, with the seats of Durack and O'Connor in Western Australia, Mayo in South Australia and Blair in Queensland the hardest hit if the ants become endemic.
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
Drawing on census data and earlier studies about the impact of Rifa, the new figures show that pesticides and pest control pose the highest financial cost to households annually, $581m, followed by medical expenses of $233m and veterinary costs of $215m. A co-author of the report warned the 'huge' volume of pesticide needed to fight the ants will affect the environment.
The new modelling doubles an earlier estimate that put total household costs at $536m, and has concerned experts who say individuals may take eradication into their own hands.
In the WA seat of Durack alone, the forecasting shows more than 60,000 people would be stung, 1,209 of whom would develop an anaphylactic reaction. Almost 19,000 dogs and cats would require the attention of a vet after being stung.
In the marginal Queensland electorates of Blair, held by Labor's Shayne Neumann; Dickson, held by Peter Dutton; and the Greens-held Ryan, the annual costs of Rifa total $21.1m:
Blair: $1.7m in medical costs, $1.5m in vet costs and $5.1m in household pesticide costs.
Dickson: $1.4m in medical costs, $1.2m in vet costs and $4m in household pesticide costs.
Ryan: $1.5m in medical costs, $1.3m in vet costs and $3.4m in household pesticide costs.
The ants would create an additional 2.1m visits to vets nationwide – a figure that comes after the Invasive Species Council warned 'a lot' of pets are suspected to have been killed by fire ant stings, including a puppy found dead on a fire ant nest in Greenbank about 15 months ago.
Rifa are managed over an 830,000-hectare zone of south-eastern Queensland by the national fire ant eradication program. It uses a combination of bait and direct nest injection to suppress and eliminate the pest.
Given their rapid spread, Rifa may increasingly be managed by stand-alone households which, according to the forecasting, would each spend $83 on pesticides each year.
The Invasive Species Council's Reece Pianta said if eradication funding was not ramped up, the modelling suggested Australia could follow in the footsteps of the US.
'Fire ant eradication failure means Australian households could get slugged with a $580m bill each year as they take fire ant control into their own hands.
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
'In the United States, where fire ants cannot be eradicated, residents in fire ant zones find their neighbours using a range of harsh or off-label chemical treatments to control these killer invaders,' he said.
'Parents are not going to just sit by and let their kids be stung by these tiny killers, so it's no surprise we hear of stories in the USA of petrol being poured on nests, or uncontrolled chemical use.'
He said the new financial modelling for suppression alone amounted to as much as the current four-year fire ant eradication program budget of $592.8m every year – for ever.
A 2021 government study found that governments and individuals would need to spend $200m to $300m annually over the next 10 years to stamp out Rifa and avoid ongoing annual costs of at least $2bn caused by the pest. The planned funding was only half that amount, the council said.
Research director at the Australian Institute and the report's co-author, Rod Campbell, said the figures showed the economic case for fire ant eradication was 'a no-brainer'.
'Behind the dollar figures though, is what the money would be spent on – pesticides.
'Australia needs to eradicate fire ants urgently not just to save money for households, but to avoid huge volumes of pesticides going into our back yards, fields and bushland.'
Rifa were first detected in Queensland in 2001 and can kill people, native animals and livestock as well as damage infrastructure and ecosystems.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Sky News
4 hours ago
- Sky News
Trump's administration reviews AUKUS submarine deal with Britain and Australia
The US has launched a formal review of the multi-billion pound AUKUS submarine deal with the UK and Australia. The defence pact, which is developing a new fleet of nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines for the UK and Australia, was agreed under Joe Biden 's administration in 2021. The alliance, which also covers collaboration on other advanced technologies, is seen as an attempt to counter the influence of China. But Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's top policy advisor, is among vocal sceptics in Donald Trump 's administration. "We are reviewing AUKUS as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda," a US official said. "Any changes to the administration's approach for AUKUS will be communicated through official channels, when appropriate." AUKUS envisages Australia acquiring up to five US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from 2032 before the UK and Australia design and build a new class of submarine with US assistance. Australia's defence minister Richard Marles said on Thursday he was confident the pact would still go ahead and his government would work closely with the US while Mr Trump's administration conducts a review. "This is a multi-decade plan. There will be governments that come and go and I think whenever we see a new government, a review of this kind is going to be something which will be undertaken," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It comes ahead of Mr Trump's first expected meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada. Security allies will discuss a request from Washington for Australia to increase defence spending from 2% to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). AUKUS is at the centre of the UK's planned expansion of its submarine fleet, with up to 12 attack submarines expected to be built for the Royal Navy. The deal is said to be worth more than £175bn. When it was signed, all three countries - the US, UK and Australia - had different leaders. In May, the US president's new ambassador, Warren Stephens, used his first public speech to back the partnership, highlighting how "vital the US-UK relationship is to our countries and to the world". A UK government spokesperson said: "AUKUS is a landmark security and defence partnership with two of our closest allies. "It is one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades, supporting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic, while also delivering jobs and economic growth in communities across all three nations."


NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
Australia confident U.S. will proceed with AUKUS submarine deal after review
SYDNEY — Australia 's defense minister said Thursday he was confident that the AUKUS submarine pact with the United States and Britain would proceed, and that his government would work closely with the U.S. while the Trump administration conducted a formal review. Australia in 2023 committed to spend 368 billion Australian dollars ($239 billion) over three decades on AUKUS, the country's biggest ever defense project with the U.S. and Britain, to acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines. A Pentagon official said the administration was reviewing AUKUS to ensure it was 'aligned with the President's America First agenda' on the eve of expected talks between President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. In an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio interview, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said AUKUS was in the strategic interests of all three countries and that the new review of the deal signed in 2021 when Joe Biden was the U.S. president was not a surprise. 'I am very confident this is going to happen,' he said of AUKUS, which would give Australia nuclear-powered submarines. 'This is a multi-decade plan. There will be governments that come and go and I think whenever we see a new government, a review of this kind is going to be something which will be undertaken,' Marles told the ABC. Albanese is expected to meet Trump for the first time next week on the sidelines of the Group of 7 meeting in Canada, where the security allies will discuss a request from Washington for Australia to increase defense spending from 2% to 3.5% of gross domestic product. Albanese has said defense spending would rise to 2.3% and has declined to commit to the U.S. target. The opposition Liberal party on Thursday pressed Albanese to increase defense spending. Under AUKUS, Australia was scheduled to make a $2 billion payment in 2025 to the U.S. to help boost its submarine shipyards and speed up lagging production rates of Virginia-class submarines to allow the sale of up to three U.S. submarines to Australia starting in 2032. The first $500 million payment was made when Marles met with his U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, in February. The Pentagon's top policy adviser Elbridge Colby, who has previously expressed concern that the U.S. would lose submarines to Australia at a critical time for military deterrence against China, will be a key figure in the review, examining the production rate of Virginia-class submarines, Marles said. 'It is important that those production and sustainment rates are improved,' he added. AUKUS would grow the U.S. and Australian defense industries and generate thousands of manufacturing jobs, Marles said in a statement. John Lee, an Australian Indo-Pacific expert at Washington's conservative Hudson Institute think tank, said the Pentagon review was 'primarily an audit of American capability' and whether it can afford to sell up to five nuclear-powered submarines when it is not meeting its own production targets. 'Relatedly, the low Australian defense spending and ambiguity as to how it might contribute to a Taiwan contingency is also a factor,' Lee said. John Hamre, president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former senior Pentagon official, told a Lowy Institute seminar in Sydney on Thursday there is a perception in Washington that 'the Albanese government has been supportive of AUKUS but not really leaning in on AUKUS,' and that defense spending is part of this. Under the multi-stage pact, four U.S.-commanded Virginia submarines will be hosted at a Western Australian navy base on the Indian Ocean starting in 2027, which a senior U.S. Navy commander told Congress in April gives the U.S. a 'straight shot to the South China Sea.' Albanese wants to buy three Virginia submarines starting in 2032 to bring its submarine force under Australian command. Britain and Australia will jointly build a new AUKUS-class submarine that is expected to come into service starting in 2040. Following a recent defense review, Britain said it would boost spending on its attack submarine fleet under AUKUS. Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who struck the AUKUS deal with Biden, said Thursday that Australia should 'make the case again' for the treaty.


The Courier
6 hours ago
- The Courier
Glenrothes dad's paternity leave campaign after son's traumatic birth
A Glenrothes dad is campaigning for better UK paternity leave following the premature birth of his son. Ryan Connolly and wife Claire welcomed baby Lewis in April last year. He was almost four weeks early and there were complications which saw Claire need emergency surgery. She remained in hospital for several days. Yet, despite the seriousness of the situation, Ryan was only entitled to two weeks leave from his job as an IT project co-ordinator. The 30-year-old said: 'In one of the most important and vulnerable moments of our lives, I don't think it's too much to ask that families are given the time and support to actually be a family.' According to MPs, the UK's paternity leave system is among the worst in the developed world. However, Ryan is supporting the Dad Shift campaign, which aims to change that. He has now spoken of Lewis's traumatic birth, and the days following, as part of that campaign. Ryan said: 'Lewis arrived unexpectedly early—at 36 weeks and 3 days. 'He was born a petite, albeit healthy, 5lb 10oz with a big cry and passed all his checks. 'But Claire's placenta didn't detach as it should have. 'After several failed attempts to remove it, she had to undergo emergency surgery. 'I was left, quite literally, holding the baby while she was taken to theatre. 'Although the operation went well, Claire suffered significant blood loss and needed a transfusion. 'She later had to have a second procedure before the bleeding was finally brought under control.' The new dad added: 'I'll never forget sitting there holding our day-old son, watching monitors as his mum's blood pressure dropped and her skin turned grey from blood loss.' Claire, 31, spent three full days in hospital with Ryan and Lewis at her side. Meanwhile, at night Ryan would go home and try to ready the house for their new baby. 'The whole time, I was painfully aware I was already on day three of my two-week paternity leave,' the Glenrothes dad said. 'We hadn't even made it home yet to adjust, to heal, to simply be together – and I can't help but think how many other dads are in the same position?' Eight European countries, including France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, offer a minimum of four weeks paternity leave. And Glenrothes and Mid Fife MP Richard Baker has joined forces with Ryan and other local dads to push for improvement. The Labour MP said: 'Dads shouldn't have to choose between being present for their newborn and keeping their household afloat. 'Even taking those two weeks off comes at a financial cost.' According to a recent survey by Dad Shift, 70% of 1,911 respondents said they did not feel psychologically ready to return to work when they did. An additional survey saw 86% of 1,565 respondents say current paternity leave limitations also negatively affected their partner's health and wellbeing. The UK Government says it is carrying out a review to see how it can best support working families.