Private Property Rights and Farming By Ken Grundy

Dear Editor

The impact on the farming community resulting from the legislation in WA requiring aboriginal approval prior to basic farm jobs like fencing is of concern to farmers across the nation.

Already similar restrictions apply in parts of Victoria and other States are likely to follow.

Concerns range from simple inconvenience to delays and costs for approval and court challenges ahead.  All of this when we have always considered Native Title is automatically extinguished when freehold is granted.

The meaning of rights attached to private property are no longer clear and the good effort from the WA Farmers CEO, Trevor Whittington to seek legal opinion warrants support.  WA farmers have provided over $25000 to start the fund.

It is high time the Farmer’s Fighting Fund established by farmers forty years ago for examples just like this case, opened its wallet to run the whole case.  Unfortunately, despite it being funded by farmers for farmers, it has been shrouded in secrecy with no reports of its current worth.  To my knowledge, apart from assistance to northern Australian beef producers who lost export opportunities to Indonesia in the Gillard Government days, the purse strings have remained tightly closed.

We might ask, “What are they keeping it for?”

Yours faithfully

Ken Grundy