WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A Brisbane fertiliser plant is being demolished to build housing for migrants.
OUR VERDICT
False. The plant has been shuttered since 2023 and the new owner has not applied to develop the industrial site.
AAP FACTCHECK - One of Australia's last fertiliser factories isn't being demolished to make way for migrant housing, despite claims on social media.
The Brisbane plant has been closed since 2023 and is zoned as industrial land.
The site's owner told AAP FactCheck there are no plans to change the site's industrial use.
Brisbane City Council hasn't received an application to rezone the site either.
The claim is in a Facebook post featuring a screenshot of an X post.
It includes an aerial photo of the factory on Brisbane's Gibson Island and a screenshot of a cover story in The Land newspaper about a farmer experimenting with fertiliser alternatives.
"As the Hormuz crisis forces many Australian farmers to plant their crops without fertiliser (or even not plant at all) the second-last fertiliser plant the country is being knocked down to build houses [sic]," the X post caption reads.
The Facebook post describes the situation as "an absolute disaster" and claims the houses are being built for "new migrants".
"Destroying what remains of our industrial base to sell citizenship to overseas migrants," the caption reads.
"This is the Australian economic model and it's a catastrophe."
Fertiliser company Incitec Pivot closed its Gibson Island plant in Brisbane in 2023.
Industrial developer Goodman Group bought the site in 2025, The Australian reported.
The land is a special industry zone under Brisbane's 2014 City Plan.
Such zones are reserved for high-impact, noxious or hazardous industries, council zoning information states.
Any change in land use requires approval under Brisbane's 2014 city plan (Section 5.3.2).
The Goodman Group confirmed it has no plans to change the site's use.
"The Gibson Island property is currently zoned industrial," a company spokesperson told AAP FactCheck via email.
"There are no intentions to change the use."
The Brisbane City Council said it had not received a development application for the site.
"While any owner can lodge a development application under the City Plan, land zoned Special Industry is generally reserved for industrial uses," a council spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
The Courier-Mail reported in November 2025 that Goodman Group planned to subdivide the land for industrial use.
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