What are pastoral leases?

Pastoral leases are a particular type of leasehold that allows Crown land to be used for grazing stock. The leases are granted by DPI (for the Crown) under the Land Administration Act. All pastoral leases expire in the year 2015, but they can be renewed subject to any conditions regarding management and development of the land.

What are the conditions of a pastoral lease?

Pastoral leases usually allow commercial grazing of stock. In return, rent has to be paid and the land must be managed in an environmentally sound way. Also, the leaseholder cannot sell the lease or use the lease as security to raise money without approval from the Minister for Lands.

The Crown has the right to the compulsory purchase (in other words the Crown can buy the lease from you even if you don't want to sell it) of any part of the lease for purposes like State improvement or settlement.

What happens if the person who has a pastoral lease fails to meet the lease conditions?

Pastoral leases can be taken away if the lease conditions are not met. Before that happens a default notice (describing what has not been done or done wrong) is issued. The notice requires the leaseholder to comply with the lease conditions (in other words to fix up what they have been doing wrong). If the leaseholder does not do what the default notice demands then a 'Notice of Intention to Forfeit' is issued. This notice means that the lease will be taken away.

In some cases a leaseholder may have to work out a development plan and then carry it out in order to comply with the lease conditions.

Penalties

Apart from having the lease taken away, there can also be fines for some things. In many cases a permit is needed from the Pastoral Lands Board to do particular things on the land under a pastoral lease. The lack of a permit if it is required usually results in a fine for the person who holds the lease.

• When the land is used for purposes that are not pastoral without having a permit, the fine will be $10 000.
• When the land is cleared (trees, shrubs and other plants removed) without a permit, the fine will be $10 000.
• When plants that are not natural to the land are planted and sold without a permit, the fine will be $10 000.
• When other people's stock is kept on the land in return for a fee without a permit, the fine will be $5 000 and $500 daily.
• If the person who holds the lease does not put in a yearly stock and improvement notice there is a fine of $2000 and $200 daily. If the person deliberately provides false information on that notice, there is a possible penalty of $8000 or 12 months jail.
• When the lease is held by a company if any shares in the company are transferred without approval there is a fine of $10 000.
• If the person who holds the lease gets a default notice and does not comply with it, the fine is $50 000 and a daily fine of $1000.