Agriculture ministers criticised for agreeing to ‘continue working’ on a strategy to deal with invasive species

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Australia’s agriculture ministers will “continue working on a new proposal” to deal with red fire ants – an announcement branded a “failure” by campaigners who had been pushing for an urgent ramp-up of eradication efforts and increased funding.

The Invasive Species Council says it now expects red fire ants – one of the world’s worst invasive species – to spread beyond current containment zones into New South Wales and western Queensland.

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