Rural landholders in Queensland Australia : legislation, litigation and litigants

The inevitable emergence of vegetation management as an environmental concern reflects, inter alia, growing environmental awareness and pressure for change from environmentalists. A primary focus of this paper is the Vegetation Management Act (1999) (Qld), one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to be debated in the Queensland Parliament in the last decade. One particular area of contention following from this Act has been the litigation surrounding vegetation clearing offences. Consideration is therefore given to the complex web of state vegetation legislation and the attendant enforcement litigation of some clearing offences. The courts and judiciary present an important forum for testing the law and challenges to the Act may potentially provide practical precedent as evidenced in this paper. Negotiating a proficient pathway through the justice system however requires competent legal representation; many perils await the injudicious litigant in person.