By 1903 Keane was in Queensland employed at a saw mill in Mosman. He also claimed he worked as a sugarcane cane cutter to ascertain the ability of Europeans to perform hard manual labour in the Tropics. He appears to have had landholdings in the Mareeba (Carbeen) and Atherton areas (Yungarra) and by 1934 he was living in Mareeba. In his entry in "Who was Who" he claimed to have invented a form of fence wiring for the Queensland Government and noted his later life was spent residing on and improving his land to establish ownership and in agricultural experiment and criminal investigation, rod fishing and horse training. He died of senile decay 1937 aged 82 at Eventide Home for the Aged Charters Towers and is buried in the Lynd Cemetery in an unmarked grave Section 3 plot 322 grave number 8868.