From Senator Malcolm Roberts:
Last Friday night, I attended a community meeting in Samford to listen to constituents concerned about the Fire Ant Eradication Program.
I shared with them that I had been involved since learning about the pollution of Dawson Creek and witnessing the destruction of the native habitat and pollution of the local waterways firsthand. I informed the audience that One Nation would continue to highlight these issues in the Senate and seek accountability for the overzealous application of poisons into local ecosystems, especially when no local environmental impact studies had been completed.
We heard of instances where program officers had bullied single women as their properties were invaded by strangers applying chemicals, even when reasonable excuses were provided that should have prevented the spread of chemicals onto their properties.
Several experts also attended, including Dr Connie Turni, who informed the group about the dangers of the chemicals to residents and fauna affected by the treatments.
We learned that the treatments had failed dismally since fire ants were first detected in South East Queensland in 2001, with around $1 billion wasted since then.
Non-chemical treatments, proven effective overseas, have been ignored to date.
Nobody wants fire ants, but the current program is failing, and alternatives need to be explored.
Photo Credit: Courier Mail | 1-Apr-25
