Kristina Seibold, 50, to face court, accused of blocking fire ant treatment in Samford

A woman who police allege was “belligerent and hostile” when she tried to block fire ant treatment officers from her property is set to face court.

Kristina Seibold, 50, is believed to be the first person charged for resisting fire ant treatment amid community concerns about the safety of the eradication program.

A woman who police allege was “belligerent and hostile” when she tried to block fire ant treatment officers from her property will face court on Monday in what’s shaping as a test case for Queensland’s biosecurity laws.

Kristina Seibold, 50, is believed to be the first person charged for resisting fire ant treatment amid community concerns about the safety of the eradication program.

Her lawyer says she will fight the charge of contravening a police officer’s direction, and will argue that “a woman’s home is her castle”.

She was arrested at her Highvale property near Samford last month after clashing with police and fire ant officers in a confrontation filmed by fellow fire ant treatment protesters and posted to social media.

Fire ant eradication officials say they’ve had to call in police for protection as community anger about the forced treatments fires up across the southeast.

Court documents say police will allege Ms Seibold obstructed officers in their duties as part of the National Fire Ant Eradication Program.

The documents allege she became “belligerent and hostile” when officers entered her 4.3ha Highvale property on February 27 with police.

She allegedly made comments about Covid-19 restrictions and intimated that previous fire ant treatments had killed one of her cows ‘however could not produce any evidence to support this assertion’, according to a police statement of facts.

When told that biosecurity officers had a legal right to enter her property and carry out treatment, she “continued to be argumentative” and began “yelling aggressively” at them as they spread the fire ant baits around her property.

Police allege she was joined by other associates who also yelled at the officers, “causing them reasonable apprehension and fear of being attacked”.

Ms Seibold was then arrested and detained in a police vehicle until the fire ant treatment was finished, before being given a notice to appear in Pine Rivers Magistrates Court.

Police have accused her of obstructing biosecurity officers in their duties with the National Fire Ant Eradication Program.

They allege she was “noted to be a member of a local area group of anti-fire ant treatment activists” and had marked property with “trespasser-type signage”.

No-one else was charged.

Defence lawyer Ron Behlau, of Gold Coast firm Behlau Murakami Grant, said Ms Seibold would “vigorously defend” the charge and he would ask the court to set a trial date.

“Ms Seibold is entitled, like all Queenslanders who might find themselves in this situation, to the presumption of innocence, and we have been entrusted to defend her ability as a Queensland property owner to lawfully object to the use of state force where fire ant baiting is concerned,” he said.

Kristina Seibold, 50, is believed to be the first person charged for resisting fire ant treatment amid community concerns about the safety of the eradication program.

“When Sir Edward Coke said ‘every man’s home is his castle’, he meant private individuals have a right to repel intrusion from the state in our homes unless there is very good reason.

“There are very real questions about the reason here and whether, in this case, her detainment and arrest was warranted.”

Ms Behlau’s lawyer wife Mia is representing a group of other southeast Queensland residents who are considering a class action against what they claim is the state’s “aggressive and assertive” fire ant eradication program.

Ms Behlau told The Courier-Mail in January that the Biosecurity Act had far-reaching powers and the Department of Environment was refusing to consider the concerns of residents with chemical sensitivities and medical issues.

“The department has said they may be able to work around these issues but at the same time they’re treating 100 per cent of properties that are affected, or may be affected, by fire ants,” she said.

“They’re not accepting our submissions in relation to individuals’ medical or health related issues so there might need to be some judicial intervention to restrain the department from trespassing on people’s properties.”

According to the National Fire Ant Eradication Program, almost 14,000 fire ant infestation sites have been identified across southeast Queensland in the last 12 months.