NSW Farmers Concerned about Effect of Native Title Decision on Crown Land
Tuesday 19 November 2013 @ 9.16 a.m. | Legal Research
New South Wales Farmers says it is concerned that a 2012 native title decision could disallow grazing on Crown land.
The Goomallee decision was heard in the NSW Court of Appeal in August 2012, with the court finding that a grazing licence on Crown land reserved for public recreation was unlawful.
NSW Farmers is now worried that thousands of grazing licences on Crown reserves across New South Wales, which have been used by farmers for generations, may in fact be invalid.
The NSW Government seems to agree with these concerns, arguing that the ruling threatens the activities of a range of community groups which have been granted tenure on Crown reserves. It has now drafted the Crown Lands Amendment (Multiple Land Use) Bill 2013 to provide protection to farmers; however, there is opposition to the bill in the Upper House, where the amendment will be debated later this week.
The Bill has three main objectives that will address farmers' concerns. In particular, if passed, it will amend the Crown Lands Act 1989 (NSW):
- to provide that a secondary interest (a lease, licence, permit, easement or right-of-way) can be granted in respect of Crown land that is reserved for a public purpose (a Crown reserve) so long as use and occupation of the land under the secondary interest would not be likely to materially harm the use and occupation of the land for the public purpose for which it is reserved;
- to authorise the Minister or a reserve trust to validate the grant of a secondary interest over a Crown reserve by making such changes to the secondary interest as may be necessary to ensure that it was validly granted;
- to require notice to be given to the Minister or a reserve trust before the validity of a secondary interest over a Crown reserve can be challenged in court proceedings.
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Sources:
Crown Lands Amendment (Multiple Land Use) Bill 2013 via LawOne by TimeBase
