Qld business fined $1,200 after sparking million-dollar fire ant scare

A south-east Queensland business has been fined about $1,200 for breaching a biosecurity zone by sending a pallet of bricks infested with fire ants to a Bowen Basin mine site.

The fire ants then spread to four other coal mines, sparking a helicopter baiting program which cost $1 million.

The National Fire Ant Eradication Program would not name the business that supplied the second-hand bricks, which are crushed on mine sites and used as a road-base.

Several fire ant nests were first detected and destroyed at the Broadmeadow Mine, near Moranbah, in July last year.

In Queensland, the maximum penalty for failing to comply with general biosecurity obligations is three years' imprisonment or a fine of up to $500,000.

National Fire Ant Eradication Program director of aerial operations Greg Judkins said it was working within "the limitations of the legislation we're dealing with at the moment".

"[The business] also has a biosecurity order on it with strict conditions," he said.

"The order is aimed at preventing the spread of fire ants while still allowing it to continue its business."

Mr Judkins said the helicopters were used four times between December 2025 and June 2026, and were part of a broader program of baiting and surveillance, which included sniffer dogs and "limited" ground patrols.

Reece Pianta, an advocacy director at the Invasive Species Council, said while the fine and the cost of baiting were vastly different, it more broadly demonstrated the cost of biosecurity breaches.

"Keep in mind the original breach of fire ants when they arrived in Australia 25 years ago," Mr Pianta said.

"That's now cost our country a billion dollars."

Push for better all-round biosecurity

Land managers in the broader Fitzroy catchment, which encompasses most Bowen Basin mines, welcomed the broad-ranging treatment.

Chair of Capricornia Catchments Michelle McRae said, while the land managers she had worked with had not spotted any fire ants, she remained concerned they could slip through the cracks.

"It would almost be at a point they're at critical mass before we would even see it on grazing properties," she said, adding that biosecurity in Queensland needed "a more structured approach".

"If they can get in, what else can get in?"

Mr Judkins said the biosecurity response would now transition to focus heavily on surveillance.

"In a few months' time, we will have to come up again and do some more surveillance that may involve putting people on the ground to a limited extent," Mr Judkins said.

He added that since detection of the fire ants on the bricks, the program had "broadened its scope" beyond businesses selling soil, mulch and hay.

"Most of the businesses that are transporting stuff are fairly aware of it, and they're quite cooperative," he said.

"Most are actively controlling fire ants on their properties."