By William Ton and Tracey Ferrier in Melbourne

Efforts to eradicate deadly fire ants are on a fast track to failure because of political self-interest, ignorance and a lack of cash, an inquiry has been told.

Federal senators have heard damning evidence about Australia’s attempts to suppress and squash the superpest since it invaded Queensland 23 years ago.

Red imported fire ants have recently spread into northern NSW and there are fears Australia could go the way of the US and China where it’s entrenched and costs billions of dollars every year in agricultural loses.

But agricultural losses are just the tip of the iceberg, the inquiry was told on Monday.

If Australia loses the eradication battle, native ecosystems face being overrun, species could disappear, the health system will face a new burden from swarming bites becoming commonplace and electrical infrastructure will come under attack.

A parade of experts, former eradication program insiders and stakeholders have detailed a litany of failures that have plagued the eradiation.

Prof Helen Scott-Orr chaired a review of the national fire ant eradication plan and in 2021 submitted a report calling for a radical and urgent change of approach.

It warned eradication would not be possible under the plan and far more money was needed if Australia was to ward off ongoing losses reaching into the billions of dollars every year.

On Monday she told senators her report disappeared and it wasn’t released for another two years.

She said she was “extremely frustrated” given the urgency of many of its recommendations, but wasn’t able to shed any light on who buried it.

On whether eradication is still possible now, she said: “I think the answer is probably no, in the current structure that we have”.

“The key thing is getting engagement at a high level and making the most senior decision makers realise that this is not just about agriculture,” she said.

She said lags caused by funding negotiations must end.

“When the (last) 10-year plan was put in place, with funding, it was two or three years out of date. It takes that long to negotiate. The ants keep moving while the funding is being worked out.”

Earlier, former staffer Richard Shannon, who spent a year working in the eradication program, expressed pessimism but said it was still worth “having a crack” at stamping out the pest.

“It’s the equivalent of putting a man on the moon.”

He later told AAP: “The moon, at least we know where it’s going to be every night.”

Pam Swepson was an original member of the eradication program, which was set up after the detection of fire ants in Brisbane in February 2001.

She says it has never generated sound data to inform eradication and suppression efforts and says as the treatment program is a shambles.

“Detection of new ants is through random detections by the public. Helicopter surveys identified more rocks and cow pats than nests. If you can’t find them, you can’t kill them,” Dr Swepson said.

The inquiry is hearing from staff the national eradication program on Monday afternoon who say eradication remains technically feasible.