Plea to keep land
Farmer appeals criminal conviction for mulga clearing
IMPACT OF DROUGHT: Charleville’s Dan McDonald, who in 2017 was ordered to pay $112,468 in fines and costs for harvesting mulga scrub to feed starving cows, has appealed his conviction and sentence.
“My wish is that no-one in this room would ever have to experience the soul-destroying impacts of drought, continuous, prolonged, severe drought,” Mr McDonald, 47, told the court.
A CATTLE farmer facing loss of his property has made an impassioned plea to three Court of Appeal judges not to underestimate the meaning and impact of drought.
Dan McDonald, who in 2017 was ordered to pay $112,468 in fines and costs for harvesting mulga scrub to feed starving cows, was appealing his conviction and sentence.
“My wish is that no one in this room would ever have to experience the soul-destroying impacts of drought, continuous, prolonged, severe drought,” Mr McDonald, 47, told the court.
“Drought is not just dry weather. Drought is debilitating … It is crushing and it goes on and on and on.”
Mr McDonald operates a 13,759ha cattle grazing business on his property, 160km northwest of Charleville.
In 2017 he was found guilty of six counts of carrying out assessable development without a permit, but he told the court there was no criminal intent in his tree clearing.
“I never sought to carry out development,” Mr McDonald said.
“My only intent was to care for my family and my cattle.”
As a cattle farmer he had always believed he had a fundamental right to use vegetation on his property to feed his cattle, the father-of-three said.
The Department of Natural Resources had taken a year and eight months to issue a stop-work notice and charges were not laid until seven months later.
Mr McDonald, representing himself in court, said he had been unaware what he was doing was unlawful, and he was charged as a result of entrapment.
“No one is hurting anyone. We are simply trying to survive,” Mr McDonald said.
Mr McDonald compared his harvesting of mulga scrub to mowing a lawn which would grow back.
“We are simply feeding our cows with a renewable resource, in a manner that has been conducted since European settlement,” Mr McDonald said.
He said there was no environmental harm, because the vegetation was growing back, and he was not permitted to harvest the vegetation to feed his cows for 20 years.
Mr McDonald said the $112,468 he was ordered to pay was manifestly excessive, compared to the penalties in other tree clearing cases.
He was ordered to pay a $40,000 fine, $46,397 investigation costs, outlays of $19,709, professional costs of $6275 and $86.40 in court costs.
At the time his family was receiving Commonwealth financial assistance for farmers facing hardship, after years of severe drought.
Mr McDonald told the appeal court judges he and his family had driven 900 kilometres for the hearing, with fuel donated by a Rotary Club.
The Salvation Army had paid for overnight accommodation for the family in Brisbane.
Ben Power, counsel for the Department, said at the time of conviction Mr McDonald had a farm with no mortgage and stock valued at $250,000, with a stock mortgage over it.
He said Mr McDonald had exceeded the requirement for legal land clearing and the fine of $40,000 was appropriate.
Court of Appeal President, Justice Walter Sofronoff, questioned whether the magistrate who imposed the penalty took into account Mr McDonald’s ability to pay, without selling his property.
Mr Power said the property was a business enterprise capable of generating income, by selling cattle, to pay the fine and costs.
The Court of Appeal reserved its decision.
Prior to last week’s hearing, Mr McDonald said outside court:
“We’ve been suffering the effects of severe drought since early 2012.
“We’re exhausted. “There’s nothing left. And the one thing we want to try and do is survive and feed our cattle.”
Mr McDonald said he had no choice but to represent himself in the Court of Appeal.
“If I just sit back and accept the current position and don’t pay the fine, the Queensland Government will take my property from me,” he said.
“They’ve already given me strict notice that they can resume my property and sell it to reclaim that debt.”
Mr McDonald said he did not have the money to pay the fine and he could be forced to sell his property “unless some sort of miracle happened”.
“All we need is justice to be served. That’s all we need,” Mr McDonald said.
He was supported at court by Federal Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter.