It’s the great mango debate
PLATOONS of mango raiders have begun their annual skirmish on the fruit trees of Cairns, armed with pool cleaning poles, burlap sacks and an insatiable hankering for sweet flesh.
It happens whenever summer draws near — every second family with a ute reverses up to stake claims over trees on public land and pillage their fragrant orbs.
This is the wild Far North, and possession is nine-tenths of the law. But is that really the case? The idea that you can just roll up and snatch whatever fruit you want from a tree you do not own seems counterintuitive in a world where kids cop fines for operating lemonade stands without a permit.
I took it to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, who basically told me it did not fall under their department.
The Department of Environment and Science response was much the same, and it was thrown in the local government’s court to decide on what the rules were.
Cairns Regional Council had good news for the niggling little mango scavenger that dwells in the reptilian stub of every FNQer’s brain.
“There is no law to prevent members of the public from taking fruit
from trees on council land,” a spokeswoman confirmed. Bloody bingo. Mango season is the best. I’ve consciously altered my dog walking route to take in as many mango trees as possible, keeping a daily eye on the level of strain their limbs are under as they cope with heavy fruit.
Hitting these park and creekside trees at the right time is a constant
tightrope walk.
If you get in too early, the sugars will not have not sufficiently matured and the flavour profile will resemble that of a nine-volt lithium battery.
Wait too long and some other scabby grub will pinch them before you get your chance.
The low hanging fruit is always first to go, naturally, so anybody with the dedication to plunder the upper echelons is pretty much guaranteed a
feed even after the slackers have made their blitz.
Another branch of mango politics is fraught with danger, purely because there is nothing more enticing than forbidden fruit. Just ask Adam and Eve. If your neighbour has an awesome mango tree doubling over under the burden of ripe, juicy globs of goodness, can you abscond with a few? And if you can, should you? The moral dilemma is a question for another day but in a purely legal sense, yes you can — in certain situations.
The Neighbourhood Disputes (Dividing Fences and Trees) Act 2011 covers the common law right of abatement, which basically means if a branch or fruit hangs over your fence line it is fair game.
The same goes for people’s trees that overhang their fence line onto public land.
It’s yours for the taking if you have the chutzpah to go for it, although it may be considered quite rude.
So there you have it folks, picking mangoes off trees that are not yours does not necessarily make you a thieving scoundrel.
You might just be an urban forager.