13 October 2006
High Country Clearance policy continues
Pastoral lessees will welcome the release of the Armstrong Report which totally vindicates their long-held belief that
they are already paying market rentals, says High Country Trustee chair Gerry Eckhoff.
“High country families however will be bewildered by the Crown’s response to now try and include ‘amenity values’ in the
valuation process. Such aesthetic values were effectively privatised under the 1948 Land Act which gave farmers
exclusive rights of use and quiet enjoyment of their properties.
“It is obvious that the government is continuing with its High Country Clearance policy in spite of the Armstrong
report’s clear opinion that pastoral lessees are justified in their stance. The government is clearly seeking to price
lessees off their land,” he says.
ENDS