A long running fence dispute between a New England landholder and mining magnate Gina Rinehart has been dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court, with negotiations now continuing privately between the parties.
The dispute relates to fencing along a shared boundary between Allawah, a 157 hectare property owned by Kathy Pope, and the Sundown Valley cattle farm, a 17,800 hectare property, owned by Rinehart’s holding company, Pastoral Properties (SV) Pty Ltd, north west of Kingstown.
According to Ms Pope, about 1.5 kilometres of a 12 kilometre boundary fence has been started but remains unfinished.
“For seven years I’ve been trying to get Gina to look me in the eye, but she’s been hiding behind her lawyers and the staff she keeps,” Ms Pope said.
Ms Pope said she had raised the matter with several political figures, including New England MP Barnaby Joyce and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, and was disappointed the issue had not been resolved.
“Including Gina, I’ve approached all three to resolve this matter,” she said.
“It’s about biosecurity and vermin spreading across the country. I don’t want fire ants or parasitic ticks here.”
Ms Pope also said there had been occasions when neighbouring cattle had come close to her home.
“At one stage the cattle were about 30 metres from my front door,” she said.
She also claimed several of her animals had been killed over the years.
Pastoral Properties lawyers disputed Ms Pope’s claims.
Ms Pope appeared without a lawyer on the first mention of the case, and was instructed by the court to find appropriate counsel. Melbourne based lawyer Michael Bates, principal of Leonard and Welch Lawyers, is now acting for Ms Pope on a pro bono basis.
Mr Bates said the Supreme Court proceedings had been dismissed by consent, with the possibility the dispute could be taken to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal if negotiations do not succeed.
“The matter was dismissed by the Supreme Court with our consent, on the basis that we would take up the fencing dispute again through NCAT if we couldn’t resolve it,” Mr Bates said.
“I will be reaching out to Pastoral Properties’ lawyers soon enough to try to resolve this. We have a month to reach an agreement before we need to file the matter with NCAT.”
“I’m hopeful of negotiating a resolution of the dispute for Kathy with Ms Rinehart’s lawyers over the next month. If we can’t make headway in this time, I hold instructions to lodge the matter with NCAT.”
A spokesperson for Pastoral Properties said the court proceedings had been resolved.
“The NSW Supreme Court has dismissed Ms Pope’s claims against us in their entirety.”
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