THE Biosecurity Act and the fire ant scare are being used to bludgeon private property rights in Queensland, contrary to the claims that a “conservative government” is now in charge of the state.
Local people in the Samford Valley at Highvale, northwest of Brisbane, recently witnessed an example of this when a local property owner was arrested by police for trying to stop a fire ant gang from spreading the toxic ant poison on her cow pasture.
Even the Biosecurity Act itself, Sect. 336, allows for “reasonable excuse” to refuse access of fire ant baiting teams on to private property. But when a Highvale woman attempted to do that because she feared for the safety of cows grazing the pasture, the biosecurity supervisor in charge of the 20-strong team of bait layers called the police.
He claimed he had “discussed the matter” with the property owner but apparently didn’t want to know about her reasonable objection to the chemicals being spread.
Local people said they had engaged a human rights lawyer and they expect the matter to go to the courts.
The LNP-led state government claims to have leanings towards small business and property rights, but this claim will be shown to be just another political sham if the government does not intervene and enforce the rights of property owners against intrusion by corporate government entities.
When questioned about the arrest by another woman, police threatened her with arrest for obstruction. She clearly wasn’t obstructing the police who had the property owner in handcuffs. The property owner was arrested for allegedly disobeying the directions of a police officer while the biosecurity officer was not even questioned for ignoring the property owner’s lawful and reasonable objection to the treatment.
The incident points to some level of collusion between police and Biosecurity Queensland against objectors to the fire ant program.
Many Queenslandeers object to the treatment, which contains toxic hormone-disrupting chemicals, is being forcibly administered to every property in the area, despite no fire ants being present.
And given the heavy rain of the past week all of the poison laid around the Samford Valley will be washed into streams and rivers.
Supporters of the property owner said she simply stood firm against the indiscriminate use of mandated chemical pesticides for the treatment of fire ants on her land where no fire ants are present.
“It feels like warfare. We feel like we’re under attack,” said resident Sarah McGuire, describing the traumatic scene.
The community is rallying around the arrested resident, and has set up a new crowdfunding campaign to support her defense. Contributions can be made at GoFundMe.
The funds raised will go towards hiring a lawyer to challenge the legality of the program’s enforcement methods, protect residents’ rights and property against forced treatments; advocate for a more sustainable and effective fire ant management approach.
Alternative treatments for fire ants can be seen on Instagram at @FireAntTreatmentAlternatives.
