The peak body representing Australia’s heavy construction materials industry, Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA), recognises the priority of establishing appropriate Fire Ant Management guidance for the Quarry Industry and is actively working on its development.
The Association is currently engaged with the Queensland and New South Wales biosecurity departments to allow for quarry products to be safely transported across state borders with consistent approaches to management of the issue on both sides of the border.
CCAA’s interim CEO Jason Kuchel said this week: “Like other environmental and biosecurity issues, controlling the spread of fire ants requires focused effort and CCAA is looking forward to continuing our work with the National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP) team to develop an industry management guide over the coming months.
“This will help industry and the regulator to have a common understanding of what compliance looks like.
“CCAA has a key role in liaising with governments to address regulatory and cost barriers, and the development of an industry guide will help to outline industry specific requirements.”
As part of the work to develop industry protocols, Queensland members of the NFAEP recently joined CCAA and host Holcim for an educational visit to the Holcim Beenleigh Quarry in Queensland.
Mr Kuchel said the tour provided an excellent illustration of how CCAA and its members were working with the NFAEP in Queensland to minimise the risk of fire ants spreading.
CCAA’s Qld State Director Roger Buckley said the visit helped the NFEAP members to better understand how quarries operated, and to ensure the new General Biosecurity Obligation Guidelines and upcoming Biosecurity Regulations 2016 included practical measures the industry could implement to minimise the risk of fire ants spreading.
“There’s nothing quite as valuable as having the Government visit and understand our member operations first-hand, to see what is already being done, as well as what may be practical in the future,” Mr Buckley said.
Fire ants were first introduced into Queensland via the Brisbane Port in 2001 and have progressively spread to South East Queensland, with the latest infestations reported in northern New South Wales.
“They are the cane toads of the insect world,” Mr Buckley said.
Quarry materials such as sand and aggregate are recognised as being able to transport fire ants and as such, are subject to a raft of compliance and management protocols under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
CCAA has engaged with the NFEAP to ensure governments are aware of how quarries work, and that measures put in place ensure fire ants are not spread through our member operations. This helps when working through what are appropriate requirements.