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 Farmer hunger strike to protest 'carbon theft' 

Farmer hunger strike to protest 'carbon theft'

03 Dec, 2009 05:06 PM
NSW grazier, Peter Spencer, of "Saarahnlee" in the Monaro region, has gone on an indefinite hunger strike following failed court actions to get compensation for his inability to use effectively a large section of his property because of government land clearing restrictions.

He began the hunger strike at his farm house on November 23 and on Wednesday moved it to a wind monitoring mast on his property.

Mr Spencer has vowed to stay until Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, meets the terms of a submission Mr Spencer has made.

The submission argues that land clearing restrictions have amounted to 109 million hectares of "stolen" farm land and farmers should be compensated under "just terms" provisions.

Mr Spencer has previously argued farmers have been denied millions of dollars in payments for 70 million tonnes of carbon stored on land they have been unable to clear.

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comments


Date: Newest first | Oldest first
Good luck mate, the bastards stole mine too.
Posted by THE FARMER, 3/12/2009 12:07:11 PM, on The Land
Doesn't your bulldozer have lights so you can operate it at night? How about the weekends?
Posted by jaimie, 4/12/2009 5:36:52 AM, on The Land
This was Howard's ETS. Where was the National Party then?? More worried about what portfolio they got and feathering their nest as usual when they are in government!! We need an independent party to represent the interests of people in the country.
Posted by Farmer Dave, 4/12/2009 7:36:25 AM, on The Land
DSE have stolen my land and have adjusted their maps accordingly. The Ombudsman said they haven't enough resources to bother with my complaint. The Ombudsman, and DSE, recommend that I get my title re-assessed. The official assessor is DSE, and the land stolen is Glenelg River frontage. I was fool enough to be sucked into putting up CMA fencing well-in from the bank where my property ends. Is there room up that mast for me too?
Posted by Tony, 4/12/2009 8:14:00 AM, on The Land
Remnant vegetation is important and is being protected for a reason.
Posted by Luke, 4/12/2009 9:02:42 AM, on The Land
Bryant and May lightning strikes in funny places Peter.
Posted by She,s my ute, 4/12/2009 9:23:15 AM, on The Land
The man wants a fair go, but he's a white middle income earner, self employed - he's got no chance. See if you can get some boat people to join your crusade, then the media will be all over it. Good luck.
Posted by des gruntled, 4/12/2009 9:29:23 AM, on The Land
We need to make it absolutely clear that any farmer who signs up for any new carbon sequestration scam that Rudd might implement is betraying all the farmers who have already had their carbon credits stolen. They would be obtaining a benefit from a criminal conspiracy. And the fact that the criminality may have taken place before hand merely makes them an accessory after the fact. And farmers have a range of options to give their protest some "teeth". Like not showing up for the local volunteer bushfire unit until AFTER the fire has gone through an offending property. Peter Spencer's fight is our fight, his enemy is our enemy, and those who think they can sit on the fence might find a paling up their rear end.
Posted by Ian Mott, 4/12/2009 9:29:24 AM, on The Land
Why does the thinking man have to get to such a low point to hope to get the masses to take notice of what he is trying to say. We need people to know what he is trying to achieve, for the person who "owns" the land/trees to be credited for them not the govt for their legislation to stop them from doing what they want, and if that is not clearing then they should be the ones getting the credits. For the media to take up his ideas and have them heard not just lawyers in courtrooms and who has the most money to spend on representation.
Posted by Chris, 4/12/2009 10:01:55 AM, on The Land
Good luck Peter, Maybe all farmers should petition to our plight and have a national poll. Uncleared land is now virtually worthless thanks to government departments making an even bigger divide between rich and poor farmers. This can only result in foods coming from places like China with poor / no food quality controls.
Posted by James, 4/12/2009 10:20:12 AM, on The Land
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Peter Spencer
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