PRA chairman Ron Bahnisch said the conference highlighted several cases of unfair treatment of landholders in not only Queensland but also Western Australia and New South Wales.

One case highlighted the experiences of young American migrants Matt and Janet Thompson. The Thompsons told the conference they had been forced to reduce the capacity of their feedlot from 15,000 head to 6000 head due to arbitrary restrictions placed on them under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA).

They said that as a result of those restrictions they no longer had the means to support themselves and their four children and were now facing financial ruin.

Augathella district grazier Ashley McKay outlined a catalogue of administrative, procedural, and political abuses stemming from the State Government’s attempts to prosecute him over tree clearing allegations.

NSW landholder Cate Stuart told of how she was forced to leave NSW when her family livelihood and safety was affected by the threat of a stop work conservation order on her property.

Barrister at Law Phillip Sheridan provided an update of landholder cases in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

He also discussed the constantly changing Vegetation Management Act and warned property owners of the need to regularly check and re-check property maps and boundaries prior to any clearing of vegetation.

“Fines being imposed by the courts have increased dramatically,” Mr Sheridan said. “With fines exceeding $100,000 being applied for unlawful clearing following pleas of guilty, property owners must be completely certain they can lawfully clear their land.”

Speakers included PRA vice-chairman Lee McNicholl who spoke on the challenges posed to landholders by the rapidly expanding coal seam gas industry; Rural Property Designs’ Stewart Cannon who advised landholders how to manage property interests when charged with an alleged clearing offence; and Professor Robert Carter who facilitated a session featuring climate change sceptics and scientists Dr David Stockwell of Emerald, David Archibald of WA and American science blogger Anthony Watts, who’s Watts Up with That? Blog regularly attracts three million hits per month.