Aust herp smuggling stories

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Posted by Raymond Hoser on December 27, 2001 at 16:41:18:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/12/06/FFXNK7EZTUC.html
Government snaky with 'disappointing' sentence
AGE
By STEVE BUTCHER
Thursday 6 December 2001
Shocked Victorian wildlife officers plan to appeal against a magistrate's decision to release two men without conviction over one of the state's biggest seizures of illegal reptiles.
Environment and Conservation Minister Sherryl Garbutt has called for a full report on the case, telling The Age she was very disappointed in the sentence.
Both men faced maximum sentences of jail and/or heavy fines, but were put on 12-month good behaviour bonds and told to pay $500 each to a court fund.
Part of Melbourne Zoo was quarantined when a number of highly venomous snakes not seen before in Australia were taken there after being seized from homes in Donnybrook and Gisborne in March.
Wildlife officers were stunned when they found the illegal wildlife during raids on the homes of Robert Anthony Valentic, 33, and Christopher John Hay, 26.
The Broadmeadows Court heard that the "dangerously venomous" reptiles included Indian and Cape cobras, Gaboon vipers, Venezuelan rattlesnakes, puff adders and yellow rat snakes. Thirteen venomous Australian snakes, including tiger and king brown snakes and death adders, and 12 tarantulas were also found.
Gavan Knight, prosecuting, said such foreign reptiles posed a serious risk to life because of a lack of anti-venom supplies in Victorian hospitals.
Mr Knight told magistrate Alan Spillane that most of the reptiles were found at Valentic's Donnybrook home, but that Hay admitted half ownership.
Police told the court that hydroponic marijuana growing set-ups and unlicensed firearms were also found at each house.
Charles Nikakis, defending, said both men were obsessed with reptiles and were motivated by a desire to possess them, but there was no suggestion of black-marketeering.
Mr Nikakis said the men conducted community reptile demonstrations and that "some benefit" was gained by the foreign reptiles later being used for study and anti-venom. Mr Spillane said he "probably agreed" with Mr Nikakis' submission that as the case presented an "odd set of circumstances", general deterrence was "low on the scale".
Valentic, of Norman Road, Donnybrook, pleaded guilty to five wildlife offences and Hay, of Horneman Road, Gisborne, to two. They both also pleaded guilty to drug, firearms and theft charges.
Mr Spillane's sentence took into account the men's lack of prior convictions, their guilty pleas, previous good character and the compensation orders against them.
He said the reptiles were kept for the pair's own amusement, there was no commercial or sinister element and the reptiles were housed responsibly.
Mr Spillane said the men, who were given identical sentences, deserved a second chance.

Note: Spillane was adversely named (at length) in two books, namely THE HOSER FILES and Victoria Police Corruption - 2.
The comments have been cleared in the higher courts as being factually correct.

This is that High Court case about wildlife not always belonging to the crown! Bummer, need to be a Native!
----- Original Message -----
From: Michelle Stillman
To: Neil
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 7:29 PM
Subject: Yanner - 2

Croc hunter bags a feast of legal minds

Two small, dead crocodiles brought seven judges and 27 lawyers to the High Court in Canberra yesterday to argue whether
native title overrode a State's native animal protection law.

"You wouldn't see this many people if it was a mass murderer," said Justice Mary Gaudron, a member of the FullB ench,
hearing the case of Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Bulanyi MungabayiY anner.

Mr Yanner was prosecuted under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act for spearing and eating two small crocodiles on
Aboriginal land near Doomadgee, North Queensland, in October 1994.

Two small, dead crocodiles brought seven judges and 27 lawyers to the High Court in Canberra yesterday to argue whether
native title overrode a State's native animal protection law.

"You wouldn't see this many people if it was a mass murderer," said Justice Mary Gaudron, a member of the FullB ench,
hearing the case of Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Bulanyi MungabayiY anner.

Mr Yanner was prosecuted under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act for spearing and eating two small crocodiles on
Aboriginal land near Doomadgee, North Queensland, in October 1994.

At issue is whether the provisions of the Queensland Fauna Conservation Act 1974 extinguish common law native title rights
and interests to hunt native animals.

The High Court case is likely to clarify the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to conduct traditional
hunting and fishing activities under Native Title legislation, where thoser ights clash with State conservation legislation.

The case has implications for the broader application of native title to State laws, hence the appearance of lawyersr
epresenting the Commonwealth, Northern Territory, Western Australia, SouthA ustralia and Queensland.

Also appearing were lawyers representing the Cape York and Northern Land Councils, and Miriuwung and Gajerrong
people.

For most of the day, Court 1 was filled with the seven High Court judges and their associates, 19 barristers, eight solicitors
and several spectators. As arguments persisted within, Mr Yanner said outside the court yesterday afternoon that "all I did
was eat two crocodiles".

His case was originally dismissed in the Magistrates Court on grounds that he was covered by provisions of the 1993N ative
Title Act.

The Queensland Government then sought a review of the case.

The Court of Appeal held that Section 7 of the Fauna Conservation Act came into effect before the Native Title Act and had
the effect of making fauna the property of the Crown and under control of Queensland's Fauna Authority.

That had the effect of extinguishing Mr Yanner's common law right to hunt crocodiles.

His counsel, Mr David Jackson, QC, argued yesterday that the native title legislation effectively recognised his common law
right to traditional hunting.

The court will hear the closing arguments from all sides this morning before retiring to reach a decision.

Caption: ILLUS: Mr Murrandoo Yanner, far left, with other Gangalidda people, speaks to one of their lawyers outside the
High Court in Canberra yesterday. Photograph by BELINDA PRATTEN
------------------------------
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
Publication date: 5-5-1999
Edition: Late
Page no: 3
Section: News And Features
Length: 449
------------------------------
Judge finds a smile for crocodiles

Byline: By STEPHANIE PEATLING

A High Court judge yesterday empathised with two crocodiles hunted and killed by an Aboriginal activist, on the final day of
a case that is being referred to as the hunting version of Mabo.

A High Court judge yesterday empathised with two crocodiles hunted and killed by an Aboriginal activist, on the final day of
a case that is being referred to as the hunting version of Mabo.

The High Court will hand down its decision later this year.

As Justice Kirby remarked at one stage during the proceedings: "It's very disturbing to be killed and eaten."

The Aboriginal leader Murrandoo Yanner is appealing against a decision made in the Queensland Court of Appeal last year
that found he could not use Federal native title law as a shield against ac onviction under a State fauna protection statute.

Yanner has never contradicted the claim that he killed the creatures, and it has been their fate that has so far captured the
imagination of the country's highest court, rather than the legal ramifications of any decision.

The case has attracted widespread legali nterest, especially from the States (three of which have sent lawyers toi ntervene in
the case), because of the potential broader application of native title to State laws.

------------------------------
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
Publication date: 6-5-1999
Edition: Early
Page no: 10
Section: News And Features
Length: 203
------------------------------
Native title win over hunting

Byline: By MARGO KINGSTON

Aboriginal native title holders can hunt protected Australian fauna for food in accordance with their traditions, despite State
laws banning their slaughter without a permit, the High Court ruledy esterday.

Aboriginal native title holders can hunt protected Australian fauna for food in accordance with their traditions, despite State
laws banning their slaughter without a permit, the High Court ruledy esterday.

After the ruling, the Aboriginal leader Mr Murrandoo Yanner declared: "We who are descended from a great and noble
hunter-gathering society no longer have to live in fear by skulking around at night looking for food."

In a landmark judgment, the court dismissed charges against Mr Yanner for spearing two young crocodiles in 1994.

It found Queensland's Fauna Conservation Act, which made fauna the property of the Queensland Government, did not
extinguish native title hunting rights.

Some conservationists fear that endangered species such as the cassowary could now be wiped out, but Mr Yanner said
that "our common law rights have finally been recognised. It's taken 200 years, but it's better late than never."

All States and Territories would now have to recognise indigenous hunting and fishing rights, even in national parks, hes aid.
Many others before the courts would benefit, including Aborigines charged with taking fish on Murray Island, in Torres
Strait.

The Queensland Premier, Mr Beattie, said his Government would study the ruling, but "we obviously have to work withi t".

Full report - Page 4
------------------------------
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
Publication date: 8-10-1999
Edition: Late
Page no: 1
Section: News And Features
Length: 251
------------------------------
Court upholds traditional hunting rights

Byline: By MARGO KINGSTON in Canberra

Native title holders have the right to hunt wildlife in accordance with their traditions, despite State government lawsp
rotecting endangered species, the High Court ruled yesterday.

Native title holders have the right to hunt wildlife in accordance with their traditions, despite State government lawsp
rotecting endangered species, the High Court ruled yesterday.

In a landmark judgment entrenching traditional hunting rights, the court held by 5-2 that a Queensland law deeming native
fauna "the property of the Crown" and banning hunting without permission did not affect native title holders.

The Federal Native Title Act of 1993, passed in response to the Mabo judgment, protects native title hunting rights for
non-commercial purposes if it has not been already extinguished by prior State laws.

The Queensland Government prosecuted Mr Murandoo Yanner, a member of the Gangalidda tribe in the Gulf of
Carpentaria, for harpooning two young crocodiles for food and skins.

The Queensland Fauna Conservation Act, passed before the High Court recognised native title in Mabo, banned anyone
takingf auna without a permit.

The High Court found the act merely regulated the use of fauna, and did not extinguish native title hunting rights - a finding
which means such rights could now be protected across Australia. This is because State laws which are inconsistent with a
Federal law are invalid.

The Native Title Act does not allow Aborigines to hunt native fauna commercially, only to satisfy "personal, domestic or
non-commercial needs". Hunting fauna must be a traditional custom of the native title holders, but need not be done in a
wholly traditional way. MrY anner used a traditional harpoon, but threw it from a dinghy powered by ano utboard motor,
described by Justice Bill Gummow as "an evolved, or altered, form of traditional behaviour".

The Federal Government, and the West Australian, Northern Territory and South Australian governments, intervened in the
case to support the Queensland Government's prosecution of Mr Yanner.

One Nation MLC in NSW, Mr David Oldfield, said the decision meant "the so-called indigenous people have the right top
ursue these creatures to extinction as they did with so many other speciesb efore white civilisation".

The Queensland president of the National Parks Association, Mr John de Horne, said the decision could open up national
parks to hunting.

But the co-ordinator of the Far North Queensland Environment Centre, Ms Nicki Hungerford, said: "We need to recognise
that what's threatening wildlife is not the odd animal being eaten but habitatd estruction."

Caption: ILLUS: In the hunt . . . Mr Yanner.
------------------------------
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
Publication date: 8-10-1999
Edition: Late
Page no: 4
Section: News And Features
Length: 434
------------------------------

Legal win puts indigenous people back in the hunt

Byline: David Solomon, Tony Koch

MURRANDOO Yanner yesterday celebrated the High Court's confirmation of indigenous people's hunting and fishing rights
by going out and spearing a young crocodile for dinner.

MURRANDOO Yanner yesterday celebrated the High Court's confirmation of
indigenous people's hunting and fishing rights by going out and spearing
a young crocodile for dinner.
The High Court decision handed down yesterday _ acknowledging hunting,
gathering andf ishing rights for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
in Queensland _ is the last stage in a long legal battle which started
with a few bits ofc rocodile meat in a freezer.
The court decided by a five-two majority that the Queensland Fauna
Conservation Act, which declares all fauna the property of the Crown,
was not inconsistent with native-title rights to hunt and fish.
Mr Yanner was prosecuted in 1995 because he used a traditional form of
harpoon to catch two juvenile crocodiles in Cliffdale Creek in the Gulf
of Carpentaria.
He and other members of his clan ate some of the crocodile meat, then
he froze the rest and kept it and the skins at his home.
Mr Yanner claimed he was exercising native title rights and the
magistrates court found in his favour. However police asked for the
decision to be reviewed.
The Queensland Court of Appeal decided that the magistrate was wrong in
holding that Mr Yanner had native title rights to take the crocodiles
and ordered the magistrate to reconsider the case.
However Mr Yanner obtained special leave to appeal to the High Court
and yesterday the majority decided that native title did protect Mr
Yanner from prosecution.
Speaking from Burketown yesterday, Mr Yanner said he was pleased with
the High Court decision, which he said ``was snappy and had a bite to
it''.
He said the issue had come about because police had searched his house
looking for more than 300 items stolen from a local business.
But nothing had been found until they looked in his refrigerator
freezer and found the skins of two small crocodiles.
Continued Page 2
Editorial, Leahy's view, Page 20
Legal win puts indigenous people back in the hunt
From Page 1
``I was put in jail twice over this issue _ a couple of hours each time
and I just used the period to meditate,'' Mr Yanner said.
``Well, I propose to be like the Postcard Bandit, Brendan Abbott. Me
and the brothers are going to go out tonight and hunt down a croc, and
then we are going to stand with arms around each other outside the
Burketown police station where all this began.
``I want to ask the current policeman _ he's not a bad lad, this bloke
_ if he will lend me his handcuffs, and I will be photographed
handcuffed to the croc outside the cop shop.''
Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill said he had not yet read the
decision, but said he would be interested in its implications for World
Heritage areas and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
``We have supported the taking of wildlife in accordance with native
title . . . for cultural or traditional reasons,'' he said in Cairns
yesterday.
Premier Peter Beattie said the High Court'sd ecision was no ``green
light'' for anyone _ including indigenous hunters _ until all its
ramifications were made clear.
Mr Beattie said he was seeking Crown Law advice on the decision,
although he believed its impact was limited.
The decision was well received by Yarrabah resident Percy Neal, who is
appealing a Cairns magistrate decision which found the right of
traditional hunting was ``irrelevant'' to their case.
Mr Neal and two others were charged with taking noddy terns and tern
eggs from a coral cay in 1995.
``I am really happy that the court has taken this line, and we have
trusted them and they have done the right thing,'' he said.
------------------------------
Publication: Courier Mail
Publication date: 8-10-1999
Edition: Late
Page no: 1
Section: News
Length: 300
------------------------------

Aborigines win bush tucker rights

THE importance of the Native Title Act and the RacialD iscrimination Act for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
was confirmed again yesterday by the High Court. In a decision consistent with its findings in the Mabo and Wik cases, the
High Court held that native title rights (once established) may include hunting, gathering and fishing rights. Thesen ative title
rights will be superior to state laws which would otherwise prevent the exercise of those rights to hunt or fish. Yesterday's
decision followed a prosecution of Murrandoo Yanner under the Fauna Conservation Act for killing two young estuarine
crocodiles.

THE importance of the Native Title Act and the RacialD iscrimination Act
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was confirmed again
yesterday by the High Court. In a decision consistent with its findings
in the Mabo and Wik cases, the High Court held that nativet itle rights
(once established) may include hunting, gathering and fishing rights.
These native title rights will be superior to state laws which would
otherwise prevent the exercise of those rights to hunt or fish.
Yesterday's decision followed a prosecution of Murrandoo Yanner under the Fauna Conservation Act for killing two
young estuarine crocodiles.
The decision is in marked contrast to what the High Court decided 12
years ago in a case when another Aboriginal man, Herbert Walden, was
convicted under same legislation, for taking two plain turkeys
(bustards) without a licence. But 12 years ago there was no recognition of native title and Sir Gerard Brennan, who in
1992 wrote the leading judgment in the Mabo case, decided in the Walden case that under the
Fauna Conservation Act, the Crown held property in all wild fauna even though at common law (and under the
Criminal Code) it was impossible for
anyone to own wild animals. In yesterday's decision, the two dissenting judges, Justice Michael McHugh and Justice
Ian Callinan, relied on what Justice Brennan had said in the 1987 case to try to prove that the law in
Queensland had given the Crown property in wild animals and that it had done so before native title was recognised in
Commonwealth
legislation. That, the minority said, meant that native title claims in relation to hunting and fishing had effectively been
destroyed.
In yesterday's case, however, five judges disregarded the finding in
the Walden case. They said the legislation did not fully give the Crown
property over all wild animals and that native title was not disturbed
by the provisions of the Act. There is some sense in this proposition.
How can the Crown` `own'' migratory birds during the period they are
flying over Queensland? But the conflict between the Yanner and Walden
decisions is irrelevant. A significant majority of the court has spoken
and Aboriginals and TorresS trait Islanders now may establish claims to
bush tucker in particularc ircumstances.
The states cannot alter this situation, even if they wanted to. The
Native Title Act contains a specific reference to permita ctivities such
as hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural and spiritual activities,
while the Racial Discrimination Act prevents the removal ofp re-existing
rights. Nevertheless, this does not mean that every Aboriginal is free
to go hunting for wildlife. Rights are limited by their relationship to
particular areas of land or water where native title claims can be established. There also has to be a customary basis to
the taking of
particular species of wildlife and (probably) to the way in which it is taken. Taking all those limitations into account,
yesterday's decision will advance Aboriginal rights without defeating any competing interests
of the rest of the community.
------------------------------
Publication: Courier Mail
Publication date: 8-10-1999
Edition: Late
Page no: 20
Section: News
Length: 300
------------------------------

Win for native hunting rights
s

Byline: BERNARD LANE * High Court correspondent

ABORIGINAL activist Murrandoo Yanner, who insisted on his traditional right to spear crocodiles without a licence, has
been vindicated in the High Court.

ABORIGINAL activist Murrandoo Yanner, who insisted on his traditional
right to spear crocodiles without a licence, has been vindicated in the
High Court.
Yesterday's 5-2 judgment confirmed the survival of bush-tucker rights
in the native title era,f reeing indigenous people from the threat of
prosecution.
A native title solicitor from Blake Dawson Waldron in Sydney, Leonie
Flynn, said the ruling meant that ``any native title holders in
Queensland can exerciset heir rights to hunt or fish in Queensland
without a licence''.
Lawyers were divided over whether yesterday's judgment would have wider
implications for native title and mineral ownership.
One senior legal source said he expected that state governments ``would
be all getting their lawyers busy to have a look at that''.
But Doug Young, a partner with Blake Dawson Waldron in Brisbane, said
the court's judgment was specific to wildlife and would not affect
property such as minerals, which governments also claimed to own.
``No open season on minerals,'' Mr Young said.
Queensland had unsuccessfully argued that Mr Yanner had lost his native
title right to spear crocodiles in the Gulf country in 1994 because the
state had taken absolute ownership of wildlife.
Queensland's fauna protection statute did not give the state ownership,
and Mr Yanner's bush-tucker right was protected by federal native title
legislation, the court held.
The court said it was difficult for the state to claim full ownership
of fauna, since wild
Continued -- Page 2
From Page 1
animals might wander across borders and never bep ossessed by anyone.
A lawyer representing Mr Yanner's Gulf country people, Andrew Chalk,
said: ``Had the judgment gone the other way it would have stripped
native title of any real content in many areas.
``So many traditional communities are still dependent on bush tucker
for ani mportant part of their diet.''
But Mr Chalk said federal native title law allowed ``a very narrow
exemption'' for indigenous people to huntw ildlife without a state
licence.
Last year, native title law was changed so that indigenous people would
not be exempt from state licensing regimes focused only on environmental
protection (of endangered species, for example), research or public
safety.
It is up to the states to take advantage of this change, lawyers said.
Mr Yanner was prosecuted under Queensland's old fauna act but the
current nature conservation act, like similar legislation elsewhere in
Australia, gives some recognition tob ush-tucker rights.
In their minority judgments, justices MichaelM cHugh and Ian Callinan
agreed with Queensland that it did have ownership of wildlife, thereby
overriding Mr Yanner's native title right.
More reports -- Page 2
Editorial -- Page 12
------------------------------
Publication: The Australian
Publication date: 8-10-1999
Edition: Sydney
Page no: 1
Section: News
Length: 300
------------------------------
The night of the hunter ends in High Court victory

Byline: KEVIN MEADE

MURRANDOO Yanner says he can clearly remember catching the first of two crocodiles which plunged him into five years
ofl itigation, culminating in yesterday's historic High Court decision.

MURRANDOO Yanner says he can clearly remember catching the first of two
crocodiles which plunged him into five years of litigation, culminating
in yesterday's historic High Court decision.
``I jumped in a dinghy with a torch and I spotted a pair of shiny eyes
in the mangroves,'' he told The Australian yesterday, recalling the
night in late 1994 when he went hunting in Cliffdale Creek in north-west
Queensland's Gulf Country.
``I went in close, turned the engine off and paddled towards him,'' the
prominent Aboriginal activist said at his home in Burketown, 800km west
of Cairns.
``As the croc swum away from me I threw my spear and struck it -- from
quite a distance if I don't mind saying so.
``The spear was attached to a rope like a harpoon. The crocodile run
and we pull him in like a fish and we tap him on the head with a dooga
dooga, which is a nulla nulla or fighting stick.''
Last night, Mr Yanner was preparing to go crocodile hunting again, this
time safe and jubilant in the knowledge that the High Court has affirmed
Indigenous peoples' right to hunt and fish native fauna according to
their traditions, regardless of whether they are protected species under
mainstream laws.
He claimed that his arrest by police who found the crocodiles kins at
his home was part of a campaign against him by Queensland political
leaders opposed to his struggle against the Century mining project.
``The police came looking for 300 items which had been stolen from a
local business,'' he said.
``They didn't find any of them but they found the crocodile skins in my
freezer, next to a heap of crocodile meat.
``Like all whitefellas they assumed the crocodile meat was chicken.
``So they took the crocodile skins and left the `chicken', which I ate
before they came back.''
Mr Yanner said the High Court decision was a victory for all indigenous
people.
``Now we canc ontinue to play our role as proud and efficient hunters
and gatherers and not have to hide behind trees and stuff and throw our
spears.
``The reason I went hunting those crocs at night is that the law made
us skulk around, like thieves in the night.''
------------------------------
Publication: The Australian
Publication date: 8-10-1999
Edition: Sydney
Page no: 2
Section: News
Length: 300

Hey Raymond
http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/announce/messages/1301.html
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Annoucement Forum ]

Posted by Kevin Lorentz on December 22, 2001 at 18:36:39:
In Reply to: "Australian Reptiles and Frogs" and more on a monster CD-rom posted by Raymond Hoser on December 21, 2001 at 22:02:44:

Nice to hear about the Cd . Also I am glad you posted as I have been wondering how things are going for you . This case is clearly showing attacks on free speach in Australia because you dare to tell the truth . The corrupt do not like it and are clearly trying to stop you and others like you . And speaking of herps in Oz . Reacently
I was in the Horned lizard forum and found an interesting post .
The person who posted said his neighbor had a thorny devil and wanted to know how this man could get one when they are supposed to be against the law to have just because of the CITES treaty alone not to mention Australian law . Could this been a part of the smuggling ring going on there ? I know of NO other way anyone could have gotten one . This happend in Canada and the poster called the authorities and the man was arrested .

Keep the faith ,

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Comments:
: http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/12/06/FFXNK7EZTUC.html : Government snaky with 'disappointing' sentence : AGE : By STEVE BUTCHER : Thursday 6 December 2001 : Shocked Victorian wildlife officers plan to appeal against a magistrate's decision to release two men without conviction over one of the state's biggest seizures of illegal reptiles. : Environment and Conservation Minister Sherryl Garbutt has called for a full report on the case, telling The Age she was very disappointed in the sentence. : Both men faced maximum sentences of jail and/or heavy fines, but were put on 12-month good behaviour bonds and told to pay $500 each to a court fund. : Part of Melbourne Zoo was quarantined when a number of highly venomous snakes not seen before in Australia were taken there after being seized from homes in Donnybrook and Gisborne in March. : Wildlife officers were stunned when they found the illegal wildlife during raids on the homes of Robert Anthony Valentic, 33, and Christopher John Hay, 26. : The Broadmeadows Court heard that the "dangerously venomous" reptiles included Indian and Cape cobras, Gaboon vipers, Venezuelan rattlesnakes, puff adders and yellow rat snakes. Thirteen venomous Australian snakes, including tiger and king brown snakes and death adders, and 12 tarantulas were also found. : Gavan Knight, prosecuting, said such foreign reptiles posed a serious risk to life because of a lack of anti-venom supplies in Victorian hospitals. : Mr Knight told magistrate Alan Spillane that most of the reptiles were found at Valentic's Donnybrook home, but that Hay admitted half ownership. : Police told the court that hydroponic marijuana growing set-ups and unlicensed firearms were also found at each house. : Charles Nikakis, defending, said both men were obsessed with reptiles and were motivated by a desire to possess them, but there was no suggestion of black-marketeering. : Mr Nikakis said the men conducted community reptile demonstrations and that "some benefit" was gained by the foreign reptiles later being used for study and anti-venom. Mr Spillane said he "probably agreed" with Mr Nikakis' submission that as the case presented an "odd set of circumstances", general deterrence was "low on the scale". : Valentic, of Norman Road, Donnybrook, pleaded guilty to five wildlife offences and Hay, of Horneman Road, Gisborne, to two. They both also pleaded guilty to drug, firearms and theft charges. : Mr Spillane's sentence took into account the men's lack of prior convictions, their guilty pleas, previous good character and the compensation orders against them. : He said the reptiles were kept for the pair's own amusement, there was no commercial or sinister element and the reptiles were housed responsibly. : Mr Spillane said the men, who were given identical sentences, deserved a second chance. : Note: Spillane was adversely named (at length) in two books, namely THE HOSER FILES and Victoria Police Corruption - 2. : The comments have been cleared in the higher courts as being factually correct. : This is that High Court case about wildlife not always belonging to the crown! Bummer, need to be a Native! : ----- Original Message ----- : From: Michelle Stillman : To: Neil : Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 7:29 PM : Subject: Yanner - 2 : Croc hunter bags a feast of legal minds : : Two small, dead crocodiles brought seven judges and 27 lawyers to the High Court in Canberra yesterday to argue whether : native title overrode a State's native animal protection law. : : "You wouldn't see this many people if it was a mass murderer," said Justice Mary Gaudron, a member of the FullB ench, : hearing the case of Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Bulanyi MungabayiY anner. : : Mr Yanner was prosecuted under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act for spearing and eating two small crocodiles on : Aboriginal land near Doomadgee, North Queensland, in October 1994. : : Two small, dead crocodiles brought seven judges and 27 lawyers to the High Court in Canberra yesterday to argue whether : native title overrode a State's native animal protection law. : : "You wouldn't see this many people if it was a mass murderer," said Justice Mary Gaudron, a member of the FullB ench, : hearing the case of Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Bulanyi MungabayiY anner. : : Mr Yanner was prosecuted under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act for spearing and eating two small crocodiles on : Aboriginal land near Doomadgee, North Queensland, in October 1994. : : At issue is whether the provisions of the Queensland Fauna Conservation Act 1974 extinguish common law native title rights : and interests to hunt native animals. : : The High Court case is likely to clarify the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to conduct traditional : hunting and fishing activities under Native Title legislation, where thoser ights clash with State conservation legislation. : : The case has implications for the broader application of native title to State laws, hence the appearance of lawyersr : epresenting the Commonwealth, Northern Territory, Western Australia, SouthA ustralia and Queensland. : : Also appearing were lawyers representing the Cape York and Northern Land Councils, and Miriuwung and Gajerrong : people. : : For most of the day, Court 1 was filled with the seven High Court judges and their associates, 19 barristers, eight solicitors : and several spectators. As arguments persisted within, Mr Yanner said outside the court yesterday afternoon that "all I did : was eat two crocodiles". : : His case was originally dismissed in the Magistrates Court on grounds that he was covered by provisions of the 1993N ative : Title Act. : : The Queensland Government then sought a review of the case. : : The Court of Appeal held that Section 7 of the Fauna Conservation Act came into effect before the Native Title Act and had : the effect of making fauna the property of the Crown and under control of Queensland's Fauna Authority. : : That had the effect of extinguishing Mr Yanner's common law right to hunt crocodiles. : : His counsel, Mr David Jackson, QC, argued yesterday that the native title legislation effectively recognised his common law : right to traditional hunting. : : The court will hear the closing arguments from all sides this morning before retiring to reach a decision. : : : : Caption: ILLUS: Mr Murrandoo Yanner, far left, with other Gangalidda people, speaks to one of their lawyers outside the : High Court in Canberra yesterday. Photograph by BELINDA PRATTEN : ------------------------------ : Publication: Sydney Morning Herald : Publication date: 5-5-1999 : Edition: Late : Page no: 3 : Section: News And Features : Length: 449 : ------------------------------ : Judge finds a smile for crocodiles : : Byline: By STEPHANIE PEATLING : : A High Court judge yesterday empathised with two crocodiles hunted and killed by an Aboriginal activist, on the final day of : a case that is being referred to as the hunting version of Mabo. : : A High Court judge yesterday empathised with two crocodiles hunted and killed by an Aboriginal activist, on the final day of : a case that is being referred to as the hunting version of Mabo. : : The High Court will hand down its decision later this year. : : As Justice Kirby remarked at one stage during the proceedings: "It's very disturbing to be killed and eaten." : : The Aboriginal leader Murrandoo Yanner is appealing against a decision made in the Queensland Court of Appeal last year : that found he could not use Federal native title law as a shield against ac onviction under a State fauna protection statute. : : Yanner has never contradicted the claim that he killed the creatures, and it has been their fate that has so far captured the : imagination of the country's highest court, rather than the legal ramifications of any decision. : : The case has attracted widespread legali nterest, especially from the States (three of which have sent lawyers toi ntervene in : the case), because of the potential broader application of native title to State laws. : : : ------------------------------ : Publication: Sydney Morning Herald : Publication date: 6-5-1999 : Edition: Early : Page no: 10 : Section: News And Features : Length: 203 : ------------------------------ : Native title win over hunting : : Byline: By MARGO KINGSTON : : Aboriginal native title holders can hunt protected Australian fauna for food in accordance with their traditions, despite State : laws banning their slaughter without a permit, the High Court ruledy esterday. : : Aboriginal native title holders can hunt protected Australian fauna for food in accordance with their traditions, despite State : laws banning their slaughter without a permit, the High Court ruledy esterday. : : After the ruling, the Aboriginal leader Mr Murrandoo Yanner declared: "We who are descended from a great and noble : hunter-gathering society no longer have to live in fear by skulking around at night looking for food." : : In a landmark judgment, the court dismissed charges against Mr Yanner for spearing two young crocodiles in 1994. : : It found Queensland's Fauna Conservation Act, which made fauna the property of the Queensland Government, did not : extinguish native title hunting rights. : : Some conservationists fear that endangered species such as the cassowary could now be wiped out, but Mr Yanner said : that "our common law rights have finally been recognised. It's taken 200 years, but it's better late than never." : : All States and Territories would now have to recognise indigenous hunting and fishing rights, even in national parks, hes aid. : Many others before the courts would benefit, including Aborigines charged with taking fish on Murray Island, in Torres : Strait. : : The Queensland Premier, Mr Beattie, said his Government would study the ruling, but "we obviously have to work withi t". : : Full report - Page 4 : ------------------------------ : Publication: Sydney Morning Herald : Publication date: 8-10-1999 : Edition: Late : Page no: 1 : Section: News And Features : Length: 251 : ------------------------------ : Court upholds traditional hunting rights : : Byline: By MARGO KINGSTON in Canberra : : Native title holders have the right to hunt wildlife in accordance with their traditions, despite State government lawsp : rotecting endangered species, the High Court ruled yesterday. : : Native title holders have the right to hunt wildlife in accordance with their traditions, despite State government lawsp : rotecting endangered species, the High Court ruled yesterday. : : In a landmark judgment entrenching traditional hunting rights, the court held by 5-2 that a Queensland law deeming native : fauna "the property of the Crown" and banning hunting without permission did not affect native title holders. : : The Federal Native Title Act of 1993, passed in response to the Mabo judgment, protects native title hunting rights for : non-commercial purposes if it has not been already extinguished by prior State laws. : : The Queensland Government prosecuted Mr Murandoo Yanner, a member of the Gangalidda tribe in the Gulf of : Carpentaria, for harpooning two young crocodiles for food and skins. : : The Queensland Fauna Conservation Act, passed before the High Court recognised native title in Mabo, banned anyone : takingf auna without a permit. : : The High Court found the act merely regulated the use of fauna, and did not extinguish native title hunting rights - a finding : which means such rights could now be protected across Australia. This is because State laws which are inconsistent with a : Federal law are invalid. : : The Native Title Act does not allow Aborigines to hunt native fauna commercially, only to satisfy "personal, domestic or : non-commercial needs". Hunting fauna must be a traditional custom of the native title holders, but need not be done in a : wholly traditional way. MrY anner used a traditional harpoon, but threw it from a dinghy powered by ano utboard motor, : described by Justice Bill Gummow as "an evolved, or altered, form of traditional behaviour". : : The Federal Government, and the West Australian, Northern Territory and South Australian governments, intervened in the : case to support the Queensland Government's prosecution of Mr Yanner. : : One Nation MLC in NSW, Mr David Oldfield, said the decision meant "the so-called indigenous people have the right top : ursue these creatures to extinction as they did with so many other speciesb efore white civilisation". : : The Queensland president of the National Parks Association, Mr John de Horne, said the decision could open up national : parks to hunting. : : But the co-ordinator of the Far North Queensland Environment Centre, Ms Nicki Hungerford, said: "We need to recognise : that what's threatening wildlife is not the odd animal being eaten but habitatd estruction." : : Caption: ILLUS: In the hunt . . . Mr Yanner. : ------------------------------ : Publication: Sydney Morning Herald : Publication date: 8-10-1999 : Edition: Late : Page no: 4 : Section: News And Features : Length: 434 : ------------------------------ : : Legal win puts indigenous people back in the hunt : : Byline: David Solomon, Tony Koch : : MURRANDOO Yanner yesterday celebrated the High Court's confirmation of indigenous people's hunting and fishing rights : by going out and spearing a young crocodile for dinner. : : MURRANDOO Yanner yesterday celebrated the High Court's confirmation of : indigenous people's hunting and fishing rights by going out and spearing : a young crocodile for dinner. : The High Court decision handed down yesterday _ acknowledging hunting, : gathering andf ishing rights for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders : in Queensland _ is the last stage in a long legal battle which started : with a few bits ofc rocodile meat in a freezer. : The court decided by a five-two majority that the Queensland Fauna : Conservation Act, which declares all fauna the property of the Crown, : was not inconsistent with native-title rights to hunt and fish. : Mr Yanner was prosecuted in 1995 because he used a traditional form of : harpoon to catch two juvenile crocodiles in Cliffdale Creek in the Gulf : of Carpentaria. : He and other members of his clan ate some of the crocodile meat, then : he froze the rest and kept it and the skins at his home. : Mr Yanner claimed he was exercising native title rights and the : magistrates court found in his favour. However police asked for the : decision to be reviewed. : The Queensland Court of Appeal decided that the magistrate was wrong in : holding that Mr Yanner had native title rights to take the crocodiles : and ordered the magistrate to reconsider the case. : However Mr Yanner obtained special leave to appeal to the High Court : and yesterday the majority decided that native title did protect Mr : Yanner from prosecution. : Speaking from Burketown yesterday, Mr Yanner said he was pleased with : the High Court decision, which he said ``was snappy and had a bite to : it''. : He said the issue had come about because police had searched his house : looking for more than 300 items stolen from a local business. : But nothing had been found until they looked in his refrigerator : freezer and found the skins of two small crocodiles. : Continued Page 2 : Editorial, Leahy's view, Page 20 : Legal win puts indigenous people back in the hunt : From Page 1 : ``I was put in jail twice over this issue _ a couple of hours each time : and I just used the period to meditate,'' Mr Yanner said. : ``Well, I propose to be like the Postcard Bandit, Brendan Abbott. Me : and the brothers are going to go out tonight and hunt down a croc, and : then we are going to stand with arms around each other outside the : Burketown police station where all this began. : ``I want to ask the current policeman _ he's not a bad lad, this bloke : _ if he will lend me his handcuffs, and I will be photographed : handcuffed to the croc outside the cop shop.'' : Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill said he had not yet read the : decision, but said he would be interested in its implications for World : Heritage areas and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. : ``We have supported the taking of wildlife in accordance with native : title . . . for cultural or traditional reasons,'' he said in Cairns : yesterday. : Premier Peter Beattie said the High Court'sd ecision was no ``green : light'' for anyone _ including indigenous hunters _ until all its : ramifications were made clear. : Mr Beattie said he was seeking Crown Law advice on the decision, : although he believed its impact was limited. : The decision was well received by Yarrabah resident Percy Neal, who is : appealing a Cairns magistrate decision which found the right of : traditional hunting was ``irrelevant'' to their case. : Mr Neal and two others were charged with taking noddy terns and tern : eggs from a coral cay in 1995. : ``I am really happy that the court has taken this line, and we have : trusted them and they have done the right thing,'' he said. : ------------------------------ : Publication: Courier Mail : Publication date: 8-10-1999 : Edition: Late : Page no: 1 : Section: News : Length: 300 : ------------------------------ : : Aborigines win bush tucker rights : : THE importance of the Native Title Act and the RacialD iscrimination Act for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples : was confirmed again yesterday by the High Court. In a decision consistent with its findings in the Mabo and Wik cases, the : High Court held that native title rights (once established) may include hunting, gathering and fishing rights. Thesen ative title : rights will be superior to state laws which would otherwise prevent the exercise of those rights to hunt or fish. Yesterday's : decision followed a prosecution of Murrandoo Yanner under the Fauna Conservation Act for killing two young estuarine : crocodiles. : : THE importance of the Native Title Act and the RacialD iscrimination Act : for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was confirmed again : yesterday by the High Court. In a decision consistent with its findings : in the Mabo and Wik cases, the High Court held that nativet itle rights : (once established) may include hunting, gathering and fishing rights. : These native title rights will be superior to state laws which would : otherwise prevent the exercise of those rights to hunt or fish. : Yesterday's decision followed a prosecution of Murrandoo Yanner under the Fauna Conservation Act for killing two : young estuarine crocodiles. : The decision is in marked contrast to what the High Court decided 12 : years ago in a case when another Aboriginal man, Herbert Walden, was : convicted under same legislation, for taking two plain turkeys : (bustards) without a licence. But 12 years ago there was no recognition of native title and Sir Gerard Brennan, who in : 1992 wrote the leading judgment in the Mabo case, decided in the Walden case that under the : Fauna Conservation Act, the Crown held property in all wild fauna even though at common law (and under the : Criminal Code) it was impossible for : anyone to own wild animals. In yesterday's decision, the two dissenting judges, Justice Michael McHugh and Justice : Ian Callinan, relied on what Justice Brennan had said in the 1987 case to try to prove that the law in : Queensland had given the Crown property in wild animals and that it had done so before native title was recognised in : Commonwealth : legislation. That, the minority said, meant that native title claims in relation to hunting and fishing had effectively been : destroyed. : In yesterday's case, however, five judges disregarded the finding in : the Walden case. They said the legislation did not fully give the Crown : property over all wild animals and that native title was not disturbed : by the provisions of the Act. There is some sense in this proposition. : How can the Crown` `own'' migratory birds during the period they are : flying over Queensland? But the conflict between the Yanner and Walden : decisions is irrelevant. A significant majority of the court has spoken : and Aboriginals and TorresS trait Islanders now may establish claims to : bush tucker in particularc ircumstances. : The states cannot alter this situation, even if they wanted to. The : Native Title Act contains a specific reference to permita ctivities such : as hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural and spiritual activities, : while the Racial Discrimination Act prevents the removal ofp re-existing : rights. Nevertheless, this does not mean that every Aboriginal is free : to go hunting for wildlife. Rights are limited by their relationship to : particular areas of land or water where native title claims can be established. There also has to be a customary basis to : the taking of : particular species of wildlife and (probably) to the way in which it is taken. Taking all those limitations into account, : yesterday's decision will advance Aboriginal rights without defeating any competing interests : of the rest of the community. : ------------------------------ : Publication: Courier Mail : Publication date: 8-10-1999 : Edition: Late : Page no: 20 : Section: News : Length: 300 : ------------------------------ : : Win for native hunting rights : s : : Byline: BERNARD LANE * High Court correspondent : : ABORIGINAL activist Murrandoo Yanner, who insisted on his traditional right to spear crocodiles without a licence, has : been vindicated in the High Court. : : ABORIGINAL activist Murrandoo Yanner, who insisted on his traditional : right to spear crocodiles without a licence, has been vindicated in the : High Court. : Yesterday's 5-2 judgment confirmed the survival of bush-tucker rights : in the native title era,f reeing indigenous people from the threat of : prosecution. : A native title solicitor from Blake Dawson Waldron in Sydney, Leonie : Flynn, said the ruling meant that ``any native title holders in : Queensland can exerciset heir rights to hunt or fish in Queensland : without a licence''. : Lawyers were divided over whether yesterday's judgment would have wider : implications for native title and mineral ownership. : One senior legal source said he expected that state governments ``would : be all getting their lawyers busy to have a look at that''. : But Doug Young, a partner with Blake Dawson Waldron in Brisbane, said : the court's judgment was specific to wildlife and would not affect : property such as minerals, which governments also claimed to own. : ``No open season on minerals,'' Mr Young said. : Queensland had unsuccessfully argued that Mr Yanner had lost his native : title right to spear crocodiles in the Gulf country in 1994 because the : state had taken absolute ownership of wildlife. : Queensland's fauna protection statute did not give the state ownership, : and Mr Yanner's bush-tucker right was protected by federal native title : legislation, the court held. : The court said it was difficult for the state to claim full ownership : of fauna, since wild : Continued -- Page 2 : From Page 1 : animals might wander across borders and never bep ossessed by anyone. : A lawyer representing Mr Yanner's Gulf country people, Andrew Chalk, : said: ``Had the judgment gone the other way it would have stripped : native title of any real content in many areas. : ``So many traditional communities are still dependent on bush tucker : for ani mportant part of their diet.'' : But Mr Chalk said federal native title law allowed ``a very narrow : exemption'' for indigenous people to huntw ildlife without a state : licence. : Last year, native title law was changed so that indigenous people would : not be exempt from state licensing regimes focused only on environmental : protection (of endangered species, for example), research or public : safety. : It is up to the states to take advantage of this change, lawyers said. : Mr Yanner was prosecuted under Queensland's old fauna act but the : current nature conservation act, like similar legislation elsewhere in : Australia, gives some recognition tob ush-tucker rights. : In their minority judgments, justices MichaelM cHugh and Ian Callinan : agreed with Queensland that it did have ownership of wildlife, thereby : overriding Mr Yanner's native title right. : More reports -- Page 2 : Editorial -- Page 12 : ------------------------------ : Publication: The Australian : Publication date: 8-10-1999 : Edition: Sydney : Page no: 1 : Section: News : Length: 300 : ------------------------------ : The night of the hunter ends in High Court victory : : Byline: KEVIN MEADE : : MURRANDOO Yanner says he can clearly remember catching the first of two crocodiles which plunged him into five years : ofl itigation, culminating in yesterday's historic High Court decision. : : MURRANDOO Yanner says he can clearly remember catching the first of two : crocodiles which plunged him into five years of litigation, culminating : in yesterday's historic High Court decision. : ``I jumped in a dinghy with a torch and I spotted a pair of shiny eyes : in the mangroves,'' he told The Australian yesterday, recalling the : night in late 1994 when he went hunting in Cliffdale Creek in north-west : Queensland's Gulf Country. : ``I went in close, turned the engine off and paddled towards him,'' the : prominent Aboriginal activist said at his home in Burketown, 800km west : of Cairns. : ``As the croc swum away from me I threw my spear and struck it -- from : quite a distance if I don't mind saying so. : ``The spear was attached to a rope like a harpoon. The crocodile run : and we pull him in like a fish and we tap him on the head with a dooga : dooga, which is a nulla nulla or fighting stick.'' : Last night, Mr Yanner was preparing to go crocodile hunting again, this : time safe and jubilant in the knowledge that the High Court has affirmed : Indigenous peoples' right to hunt and fish native fauna according to : their traditions, regardless of whether they are protected species under : mainstream laws. : He claimed that his arrest by police who found the crocodiles kins at : his home was part of a campaign against him by Queensland political : leaders opposed to his struggle against the Century mining project. : ``The police came looking for 300 items which had been stolen from a : local business,'' he said. : ``They didn't find any of them but they found the crocodile skins in my : freezer, next to a heap of crocodile meat. : ``Like all whitefellas they assumed the crocodile meat was chicken. : ``So they took the crocodile skins and left the `chicken', which I ate : before they came back.'' : Mr Yanner said the High Court decision was a victory for all indigenous : people. : ``Now we canc ontinue to play our role as proud and efficient hunters : and gatherers and not have to hide behind trees and stuff and throw our : spears. : ``The reason I went hunting those crocs at night is that the law made : us skulk around, like thieves in the night.'' : ------------------------------ : Publication: The Australian : Publication date: 8-10-1999 : Edition: Sydney : Page no: 2 : Section: News : Length: 300 : Hey Raymond : http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/announce/messages/1301.html : [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Annoucement Forum ] : Posted by Kevin Lorentz on December 22, 2001 at 18:36:39: : In Reply to: "Australian Reptiles and Frogs" and more on a monster CD-rom posted by Raymond Hoser on December 21, 2001 at 22:02:44: : Nice to hear about the Cd . Also I am glad you posted as I have been wondering how things are going for you . This case is clearly showing attacks on free speach in Australia because you dare to tell the truth . The corrupt do not like it and are clearly trying to stop you and others like you . And speaking of herps in Oz . Reacently : I was in the Horned lizard forum and found an interesting post . : The person who posted said his neighbor had a thorny devil and wanted to know how this man could get one when they are supposed to be against the law to have just because of the CITES treaty alone not to mention Australian law . Could this been a part of the smuggling ring going on there ? I know of NO other way anyone could have gotten one . This happend in Canada and the poster called the authorities and the man was arrested . : Keep the faith ,

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