The Australian ant was purplish-blue, about one inch long and had light blue wings almost as long as its thorax and abdomen. What was it?

'Blue ants' sound similar to what you describe, they are a really shiny dark blue, the males have wings but they have reddish/orange legs and antennae.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Female_blue_ant04.jpg/250px-Female_blue_ant04.jpg

Don't know if that's close but it's hard to know without a picture :)