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Fire ant nest found at Sydney intermodal hub; NSW launches biosecurity response
Federal agriculture officers found and destroyed a red imported fire ant nest at the Enfield Intermodal Centre in Sydney's inner west. NSW has set up an incident management team and will inspect properties within 500 metres, with surveillance out to 2 kilometres.
Why it matters
Red imported fire ants are among the world's most invasive pests — their stings are painful and they threaten pets, wildlife, agriculture and infrastructure. The NSW Government says the nest was found through routine border biosecurity surveillance, has been destroyed, and there is no evidence of spread; genetic analysis confirms the ants likely arrived in an overseas shipping container and are unrelated to the established infestation in south-east Queensland.
Full report
Border surveillance officers from the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) detected fire ants in a lure at the Enfield Intermodal Centre, a key logistics and warehousing facility for the freight industry in Sydney's inner west. A nest was then found and treated. Specialist fire ant detection dog teams have searched the site and immediate vicinity; no other nests were found. DAFF entomologists confirmed the ants as Solenopsis invicta, red imported fire ants.
The NSW Government has established an Incident Management Team and engaged a Fire Ant Biosecurity team of experts from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and Queensland-based officers from the National Fire Ant Program. Over the coming two weeks it will work with neighbouring businesses and the community to raise awareness; the immediate focus is inspecting and treating properties within a 500-metre radius of the hub, then surveillance and treatment in the surrounding 2-kilometre radius. A Biosecurity Control Order will follow the community engagement period, focused on businesses that move fire ant carrier materials such as soil, turf and building materials.
A community information drop-in centre opens this afternoon at Chullora Marketplace, 357 Waterloo Road, Greenacre, with information materials in multiple languages. The NSW Government urges nearby residents and businesses to remain vigilant and, if they see suspect ants or mounds: LEAVE IT (do not destroy the nest), SNAP IT (take a clear photo or video), CALL IT (call the helpline on 1800 680 244 or submit an online form). Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said the biosecurity team had "swung into action", noting no further ants have been found and that fire ants "can and have been successfully eradicated in New South Wales" — including a 2014 incursion at Port Botany.
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