Driver rages after believing he’s been snapped speeding just moments after crossing the Queensland border: ‘This is how you know you’re in NSW’
- Speed camera look-a-like used to control cattle ticks
- Ticks cost the meat industry around $160million annually
A driver leaving Queensland to head into New South Wales was furious after copping a speeding fine from what he thought was a well-hidden speed camera.
But the the cameras, placed just metres inside the NSW border on Tourist Drive in the Tomewin Conservation Park, are just some of many along the 3,339km border between the two states aren’t there to detect speeding drivers.
They are actually trying to control the movement of the noxious cattle tick.
While looking like speeding cameras, the devices instead keep track of vehicles potentially transporting cattle across the border that haven’t been checked for the insect.
Cattle tick is considered a ‘significant economic pest of the Queensland cattle industry’, according to the state’s Department of Business and all farm animals must be checked at a quarantine station before crossing the border.
‘This camera surveillance system offers reliability, efficiency and addresses management issues, including non-compliance with animal movement regulations, to support any potential tick eradication solution in the future,’ a spokesperson from the NSW Department of Primary Industries told Daily Mail Australia.
The tick is estimated by Meat and Livestock Australia to cost the industry around $160 million every year.
Mistaking the cattle tick cameras for speeding cameras, the driver posted a video to TikTok stating ‘this is how you know you’re in New South Wales’.
The driver, trying to make a point on the state’s use of speeding cameras, unknowingly pointed out that NSW is the only state to implement cameras to help control the spread of the tick.
NSW expanded the line of cameras to cover all major, and numerous minor, crossings into the state in 2013 after being introduced in 2008.
‘Since 2008, DPI Border Cam has monitored all livestock and bloodstock movements into NSW from the Queensland tick zone at Chindera, Cobaki, Terranora, Tomewin, Numinbah, Richmond Gap, Mount Lindsay and Boonah,’ the spokesperson said.
The tick has devastated cattle populations in northern Queensland and spread across the nation’s north coast to as far as Western Australia.
Heavy infestations of cattle tick cause tick worry, an infectious disease caused by bites, and loss of blood that can sometimes lead to death.
‘It (cattle ticks) can also transmit three blood-borne tick fever organisms, which cause sickness and death in cattle,’ the Queensland Department of Business website writes.
The tick also releases paralysing toxins that can kill calves and smaller household animals such as cats and dogs and also seriously affect humans.
A driver who was left shocked by speeding camera look-a-like just metres from the QLD-NSW border has instead highlighted NSW’s attempts to limit the spread of cattle tick
NSW is the only state to use cameras to monitor potential cattle transporters spreading the pest that costs the Meat and Livestock Australia around $160 million every year
Despite the cameras attempting to stop the spread of the deadly parasite, 2020 was the worst year on record for cattle tick infestations with 170 incidents across NSW’s north coast.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) urged cattle farmers to be on the lookout and report any sighting of the insect.
‘We advise producers to adhere to biosecurity procedures which ensure their herds are protected from tick infestations,’ Paul Freeman, NSW DPI senior veterinary officer, said at the time.
‘Cattle tick must be reported as it is legally notifiable disease and producers are encouraged to come to us for support and assistance.
‘If cattle ticks are found we will work with producers to carry out eradication treatment programs and monitor cattle on adjoining properties to isolate infestations – successful eradication of cattle tick can take 18 months.’