A landmark Supreme Court of Queensland ruling has determined a seizure notice issued by the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation to a Cape York pastoral company was “invalid”, throwing into question the controversial practice of seizing and destroying stock in Cape York national parks. Photo: Supplied.
A landmark court ruling has left the State Government’s seizure practices of cattle in Cape York national parks in tatters to create a scenario frustrated pastoralists hope will lead to positive change for the local industry.
On 29 November 2024, the Supreme Court of Queensland found in favour of Olive Vale Pastoral – which operates Cape York’s well-known Fairview and Koolburra stations – that a seizure notice issued by the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) was “invalid and of no effect”, a decision that has put a question mark beside the legality of the other notices handed to pastoralists.
The court case related to the current practice of the State Government, through the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), of seizing and destroying cattle located in Cape York national parks if they could not be removed by an annual deadline.
A permit system is in place to allow cattle producers to enter the national parks to muster their stock before the deadline, however, many have criticised the process, saying red tape made it difficult to obtain the relevant permission in a workable timeframe.
Member for Hill Shane Knuth has been a vocal opponent of the seizures and said the court decision proved it was time for the government and pastoralists to go back to the drawing board to design a workable solution.
“This court decision is a victory for every landowner in Cape York who has had to fight a bureaucratic machine that has shown complete disregard for their livelihoods,” the Katter’s Australian Party MP said.
“Olive Vale’s win shines a light on the injustice property owners have faced for years, and it casts serious doubt on the legitimacy of past shoot-to-kill operations conducted by the department under the previous government.”
In a letter dated 13 December 2024 from Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell to Mr Knuth seen by Cape York Weekly, he confirms “there will be no shooting of cattle in Cape York national parks in 2024 or over the current wet season”, but he has refused to rule out a return to the controversial practice.
A spokeswoman for Minister Powell said the government was committed to a “good neighbour policy” and was working with cattle producers to increase the efficacy of mustering efforts.
“The QPWS works with Traditional Owners and local landholders to arrange muster of cattle which have strayed into parks, and arranges aerial control of remaining unclaimed and unbranded cattle,” the spokeswoman said.
“The QPWS is committed to a good neighbour policy, and will continue to work with landholders and TOs to retrieve the cattle from parks.”
Olive Vale Pastoral director Paul Ryan said he believed the court decision validated the concerns raised by landholders, adding he was confident a long-term solution would be found.
“It sort of validates everything that we’ve been saying,” he said.
“It’s been difficult to recover stock from the parks since 2019 – that was the first year they’ve done the shooting of the cattle; before that, there was a workable option.
“You can’t get the skilled staff you need to muster traditionally – you need 10 guys with experience, not 10 backpackers
“We’d like to work out a long-term solution for everybody; everybody needs to have a goal where we’re going to be at in five or 10 years’ time, so we don’t need to rehash it every year.”
The 29 November 2024 Supreme Court of Queensland order ruling the State Government’s cattle seizure notice issued to Olive Vale Pastoral was “invalid and of no effect”. Photo: Supplied.
