Activists given $1 fine for breaking biosecurity laws on a property
Activists fined loose change for breaking law
AN ANIMAL activist has been fined just $1 for breaking biosecurity laws after stealing livestock from a Gippsland goat farm.
The Rural Weekly’s sister paper The Weekly Times has revealed Cara Garrett, 24, was fined $1 for removing an identifying ear tag from a stolen goat and a further $1 for housing livestock without a property identification code when she faced Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court last week.
Garrett was among a group of about 70 who stormed the Gippy Goat Cafe at Yarragon last December, stealing three goats and a lamb and loading them into cars.
Both offences carry maximum penalties of $9671.40 under the Livestock Disease Control Act.
The $1 fines were described as “measly” by Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke and were in stark contrast to the billions of dollars a potential disease outbreak could cost Australia’s agriculture industry.
Garrett, who was unrepresented in court, was found guilty without conviction of both biosecurity-related offences, as well as theft and failing to comply with police directions.
She was ordered to pay compensation of $250 for the theft, despite Gippy Goat Cafe and farm owner John Gommans estimating his stolen stock to be worth $2000.
Malakeh Awad, 37, and Yasna Kelly, 25, were also found guilty of theft and escaped conviction but were placed on six-month good behaviour bonds.
Victoria’s biosecurity laws differ greatly from NSW, where individuals can be fined up to $220,000 for creating a biosecurity risk.
Police told The Weekly
Times they found the milking doe and lamb, among other animals unrelated to the theft, wearing human nappies at Garrett’s Koo Wee Rup home.
Mr Jochinke said he was in disbelief over the outcome of the case, which “should have been a landmark example”.
“Everyone should be up in arms,” he said.
“We’re asking farmers to comply with the law to protect the industry but we are seeing people do the complete opposite and get charged $1 for threatening the whole industry. This is actually a cry to parliamentarians and the people that enforce law.
“Are they wanting an agriculture industry or not?
“If no action is taken, we may as well shut down the whole show.”
Mr Jochinke said not only were the fines no deterrent but proof activists could break the law and get away with it.
“I don’t believe a good behaviour bond or a meagre fine sends any message. It’s a serious offence in any language,” Mr Jochinke said.
“When will people’s livelihoods be taken seriously?
“What is the motivation for police to prosecute a case or even farmers to have faith in the law when the law doesn’t stand up?”
Mr Gommans said he was “disgusted” by the sentence.
“Every farmer in Australia that’s attacked by these vegan activists now know they can come onto any farm with impunity,” he said.
“Every farmer now knows their farms are fair game to the vegans and every court in the land will support them.”
Mr Gommans said it was difficult to sit in the court and “let them walk away with (his) animals at 10 per cent of the cost”.
“We’re not a third world country, we don’t have farmers running around with pistols on their belts protecting themselves and nor do we want that,” he said. “We rely on the legal system.”
He too called for government action.
But the Victorian Government said the current biosecurity and trespass laws were adequate to deal with activist invasions.