June 1952

Ex-soldiers "led up garden path" "The Mercury"

Allegations of trickery, and that soldiers "were being led up the garden path" were made during heated discussions at a meeting at Hamilton last night, when 40 soldier settlers of Lawrenny met the Commonwealth Director of Land Settlement (Mr. R.W. Wilson), who made a special trip to Tasmania.

The soldiers claimed that they had been offered leases with a rent not calculated in accordance with the principles promised them and at figures far in excess of those quoted originally.

Mr. D. Rice said that soldiers who had been on their farms developing them for the last five years had worked on promises given by responsible officers. The soldiers were being led up the garden path.

Mr. W. Maxwell said that when settlers on the farms wanted to draw attention to money being wasted in developing the properties, they were told to mind their own business as any excess cost would be written off and the farms made available at 1946 values.

Mr. G.A. Ashton-Jones: Now we find we will get the farms at a slight concession on 1951 values.

"Take It or Not"

In a series of heated exchanges in which Mr. Wilson, the State Director of Land Development

    

(Mr. R.J. Veale) and two settlers, Messrs. R. Johnston and D.J. Nicholls took part; Mr. Wilson said You have been offered a rent. You can take it or not.

A voice: "That is what you want us to do - get off."

Mr. G.C. Frankcomb, a member of the State Closer Settlement Board, said that there was no denying that promises had been made to settlers on the matter of rent by the former chairman of the board (Mr. S.R. Adams). The board should take full responsibility for it.

Mr. Frankcomb said what he wanted to know was whether Mr. Adams had any authority from the Commonwealth Government to suggest a figure of £ 180 or  £ 200 odd as rentals for the different types of farms.

Mr. Wilson said he could not go around accepting responsibility for statements made by the State board. After further discussion Mr. Wilson said it appeared there had been some misunderstanding. If representations were made to the Commonwealth, he felt sure the responsible Minister would consider them.

Editors note:

Following this meeting, settlers decided to pursue legal action through the State Supreme court, the case beginning on 02/12/1952. In what was loosely known as Mulcahy and others vs. The Closer Settlement Board, but is officially known as Milne and Others v The Attorney General for the State of Tasmania and Others, 95 C.L.R., 460; 38 settlers took a class action.

The plaintiffs names listed in the pleadings are: Edward Nicholson Milne, Neil Peter Mulcahy, William Edward Maxwell, Lionel Percy Milne, Alan Richard Butters, Alexander Lexicon Graeme-Evans, Frank Burgess Powell, George William Brasher, Devlin James Nickolls, Edward Louis Archer, Paul Phillip Nichols, Philip Hilyer Mason, Vincent George Manning, Ross Allen Johnston, Roy Alexander Gourlay, Edgar William Bannister, Frank Maxwell Downham, Dermot Glynn Rice and Randolph Wybert Bannister.

These men were joined by other settlers from the north of Tasmania in fighting this case, such that 38 people split the cost of running the action. This is a great example of a big hearted selfless approach, and co-operation, a form of behaviour which these settlers excelled at, and modern generations could learn a lot from.

I have copied a foolscap transcript, 20 pages, of Chief Justice Sir John Morris judgement in the above case. It is rather large at 4.67 Mb, but is very detailed and contains much historical information. If you are using dial up you may prefer to download it as two files A (2.5
Mb) and B (2.28 Mb)

I have also copied the transcript of the High Court decision and ruling handed down in Sydney, August 22 1956. High Court 1.39Mb

© Peter Mulcahy 2006

Last updated Friday 3rd September 2010

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