7th March 2017
DATE CLAIMER – 2017 PRA Conference, June 3, at Chinchilla
Mark in your diaries or on your calendar everyone. The venue has been booked; the date is locked in, more details available soon.
Peter Spencer Appeal to Full Bench of Federal Court
A three day hearing was held between February 28 and March 2. The following information was supplied by Ian Hampton on the Support Peter Spencer & Australian Farmers, Facebook page.
On day one, Barrister Peter King’s opening oral submission concentrated on Peter Spencer’s proprietary rights (which go with the ownership of his property) especially the trees and carbon. The second day saw Peter King finished his opening oral submission this morning. In the afternoon the Commonwealth lead barrister Richard Lancaster made his opening oral submission and he was followed by Jeremy Kirk for the State of NSW. Mr Kirk finished his verbal submission after lunch. This was followed by a 1 hour right of reply submission by Peter King, followed by 5 minutes rebuttal submissions each from Lancaster (for the Commonwealth) and Kirk (for the State of NSW).
It is now up to the 3 judges to make their decision, and Peter King said this could take 2-3 months.
From the Federal Court website: “For an appeal to succeed a party must convince the Court that the Judge that heard the original case made an error of law and that the error was of such significance that the decision should be overturned.”
In this case it is considered that the two important matters are proving the proprietary nature of Peter Spencer’s rights in his property, and the acquisition of the trees and carbon on the property by the Commonwealth.
Murdoch University law lecturer Lorraine Finlay often provides well informed comment in regards to property rights, as is the case in this interview about Peter Spencer – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-28/hunger-striking-farmer-peter-spencer-back-in-court/8310528
Rebuilding the PRA web site
Something has needed to be done to the PRA web site for a long time now. The board has started the process to renew and update the web site. If anyone has any ideas what the new site should look like or what additional information should be at the site, your input would be greatly appreciated. There will also be a need for new photos to go onto the site. These photos could vary from property scenes to photos of PRA activities. It would be interesting to know what photos members have of some of the earlier years in which PRA was operating.
This is the link to the current web site – http://www.propertyrightsaustralia.org/
Submission to Australian sustainable beef framework
PRA sent in a written submission to the steering committee about the draft Australian sustainable beef framework. Now that the consultation period has closed the steering committee is to read the feedback and prepare a report by the end of March.
No defence compulsory acquisitions confirmed
On February 23, Defence Minister, Senator Marise Payne recieved the defence “master plan” in regards to the expansion of the Townsville and Shoalwater Bay military training areas. The Minister confirmed that there will be no compulsory acquisitions. The PRA board is concerned with the lack of detail made available by Marise Payne. The Minister has the plan but most landowners will not see it. Only those who are “willing sellers” will be shown the plan. Another promise broken.
PRA is also concerned that there is no acknowledgement or understanding by the ADF, the Minister or by government, that highly productive agricultural land should not be taken over by other land use that can operate just as well on low productive land. The push is still on to expand but with “willing sellers”.
The removal of compulsory acquisition creates a more even bargaining position for landowners. Retained is Defence actively seeking to purchase properties so that they can expand their training areas. There are a number of possible future scenarios along with a range of possible impacts on these communities. There is the need to remain vigilant.
Regards
Dale Stiller
Dale Stiller
Chairman
Property Rights Australia
Phone: 07 49 214 000
Fax: 07 49271 888
Email: pra1@bigpond.net.au
www.propertyrightsaustralia.org
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