17th August 2010
Monday 16th August 2010
Dear Members
Vice-Chairman Lee McNichol and Family are in Africa, with him playing Rugby and we expect his first hand account of this fascinating continent when he returns.
Treasurer Joanne Rea is in England/Europe for a month, with her husband Elwyn playing Veterans Cricket. They will notice the difference when they return.
I have said previously that the litigation unit of Deedi are over-reaching and there is plenty of evidence.
Compliance orders can now be replaced by a “reasonable belief” PMAV which is subject in the first instance to internal review and then to limited Appeal. Defence against capricious actions by officials while always lengthy and expensive is now being made for all intents and purposes impossible. This has been the object of 400 amendments to the law in 11 years. I have related in previous newsletters ad nauseam the outrageous aspects of these laws.
In WA a farmer is serving a prison sentence for clearing a fire break 20 meters wide around a paddock of regrowth. WA has a conservative government with a Liberal Minister for the Environment on leave having a baby. The farmers have a desperate hope that her replacement might intervene.
Yes it can get worse.
Eligible land holders in the Barrier Reef protection zone have received the paper work they must complete and return by September 30th 2010.
I believe at last there is a realisation that this above all is only an exercise to make urban Green Party voters feel they have got value for their preference deals.
It is a huge impost on farmers hundreds of river miles from the coast with a river with so little velocity it hardly has a channel in the Belyando Valley and the Burdekin Dam will trap thousands of years of sediment just before it reaches the coast.
The Green Party Policies are based on the philosophy “that your perception is your reality” a quant concept initiated in universities late last centaury and now pervading a lot of the scientific disciplines supporting man made global climate change.
A post about our Emerald conference on Farm Line generated a sharp exchange that lasted for several weeks. The enemy certainly broke cover.
We are extremely pleased to welcome 2 ladies as new members of PRA.
Ruth Bonnett with her partner Richard attended our Emerald Conference; she has entirely without any remuneration taken all the sound and video recordings of the conference and generated widely circulated promotional videos.
Born on a dairy farm in Canada she has made her money in Engineering and has taught it as a subject at university at professorial level and lives in a unit at the end of Queen Street, Brisbane.
She is outraged at the treatment of primary producers in this country.
The other recent recruit is Dixie Nott who with her partner John owns an iconic property on the top of the St Lawrence range that ticks all the Green credentials and she helped with her excellent submission to the Senate Enquiry delivered in person. She is at present working on a PHD thesis in woodland ecology studying externally.
It is great to have people capable of intellectual heavy lifting joining others in our team.
We welcome and support NSW Farmers Association featuring property rights at their Annual Conference and putting this top of their list of election demands. Some members have suggested that we should affiliate with this organisation.
May your preferred candidate win on Saturday but from PRA’s point of view it is difficult to look forward with equanimity to a Green Party dominated senate.
Regards
Ron Bahnisch,
Chairman
Property Rights Australia
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