Report of Property Rights Australia Conference 2013
This year was
the 10th anniversary of the inception of PRA. Ashley McKay gave us a brief
history of the achievements of the organisation over that time. There is little
doubt that without PRA many more families would have had their lives and
businesses ruined by the Vegetation Management Act and the spiteful and often
illegal way in which it was administered.
PRA stalwart
Philip Sheridan gave a clear explanation of the amendments to the Vegetation Management
Act. He does warn however that it is still not possible to pull your property
from fence to fence. There are still laws and regulations for vegetation
clearing although some actions have become self-assessable.
At the time
of the conference the self-assessable codes under the amendments to the Vegetation
Management Act were yet to be released. Subsequently the Queensland Government
has released the Mulga Lands Fodder Area Management Plan. Those members in the
mulga lands need to read this document closely.
There is no
doubt that the Government has appreciated the public support by PRA of the
amendments to the Vegetation Management Act in the face of a very vicious and
sometimes very personal campaign against the Premier by the Worldwide Fund for
Nature (WWF) with respect to the amendments.
Minister for
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Dr. John McVeigh addressed our
Conference as representative for the Premier and told us of the Governments
plan for agriculture.
Powerlink was
in the spotlight with Gary and Kerry Ladbrook telling us of their experiences.
Richard Golden in his presentation,Living and Working in a Gasfield, gave an account of the extra difficulty of dealing with multiple
resource and infrastructure companies. There are many members who are trying to
deal with multiple companies and it takes a great deal of time away from their
farm businesses.
“Powerlines,
Pipelines and Porky Pies” was the title of the presentation by Tom Marland,
solicitor. Tom also summarised a case won on behalf of a client.
Anne Bridle
of Basin Sustainability Alliance had a stunning visual presentation of the
extent of CSG wells in the Surat Basin. One of her tips was to be very vigilant
about testing bores before extraction, not only for what is in them but for
what is not in them and for both quantity and quality of water. Basin Sustainability
Alliance (BSA) has on their web site a tool that allows you to view CSG well
maps and information at your fingertips, for more information click
here>> http://www.basinsustainabilityalliance.org/researchlinks.html
Trent Hindman
spoke to the expert report prepared by DR. Bill Burrows for his appeal.
The media,
including social media, like it or not, is extremely important to the way rural
industry gets its message across and it must become even more important or our
voices will be lost in an avalanche of contra arguments put by environmental
and animal welfare groups.
Queensland
Country Life deputy editor Troy Rowling gave us some insights into how the
urban media thinks and how we may be able to make an impression on them. Alex
Sparkes of farmz.com.au, a web site dedicated to rural pursuits, told us of his
site and the importance of social media in getting a message across.
Many who
attended the Conference expressed appreciation of both the speakers and the
opportunity of interaction with others with similar challenges and outlook.
End of
report.
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Local Government Referendum
Professor
Suri Ratnapala has been a critic of the Vegetation Management Act as an example
of extremely bad law from its inception. He is a former guest speaker at our
Conference. He has now prepared an essay in opposition to the Constitutional
Amendment giving formal recognition to local government to be voted on at
election time.
Professor
Suri Ratnapala goes on to say:
‘The proposed
amendment may look innocent but, for the reasons that I have explained, is a
calculated assault on the fundamental structure of the Australian Constitution.
The Australian federation is a system of vertically divided power in which the
Commonwealth and the states have their assured spheres of governance. The
federal-state balance that the delegates of the Colonies painstakingly worked
out has, since federation, been reweighted in favour of the centre by the High
Court’s endorsement of the Commonwealth’s expansive legislative claims. Even
so, there remain significant constitutional limits to the Commonwealth’s
powers. It may only legislate on specified areas. It can only spend public
money for the purposes identified with its legislative sphere. Its so-called
nationhood power is limited to situations of national emergency. Importantly,
it can make grants of public funds under s 96, as it stands, only to the states
and only on conditions that the states are at legal liberty to reject. However,
as I have explained, the proposed amendment if enacted will further erode the
remaining capacity of the states to manage their own affairs and will further
threaten their legal, political and economic existence. If enacted, it will
cause irreparable harm to the Australian polity and economy.’
Land Court
A recent
decision of the Land Court involved the Keys, Erbacher and Edmonds families.
Unfortunately the initial reports of the case had inaccurate and inflated
amounts reported as having been awarded. Queensland Country Life has reported
on this story in the past and they did report the decision accurately.
The amounts
awarded, although fair were not as generous as originally reported by many
media outlets and are only activated if and when Xstrata are given a mining
lease which could be well into the future.
The link to
the decision on the case is here.
Some
resources and infrastructure companies are trying to make landowners fearful of
going to the Land Court in order to rush them into signing an agreement.
PRA’s observation of
the Land Court is that it tries to be fair but it relies on documentation and
more documentation. It is essential to keep a diary up to date and a camera
handy and record every inconvenience, how long it took to rectify and at what
cost. Reasonably incurred costs for solicitors and other professionals are
allowed by the legislation. This may require an affidavit from the professional
as to why the cost was necessary but the final payout is decided by the Court
and not the company.
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