Crown a greedy landlord 'trying it on'

4 May 2007

HIGH COUNTRY ACCORD
MEDIA RELEASE
IMMEDIATE

Crown a greedy landlord 'trying it on'

The announcements by the minister of lands and commissioner of Crown lands that the formula for setting rents for high country sheep stations has been changed are misleading and mischievous, says the High Country Accord.

Co-chair Ben Todhunter says the decision to charge rents for views and amenity values is simply a case of a greedy landlord ‘trying it on’ with his lessees.

“The levels of rent increase being sought are in the nature of a wish-list rather than a legal fact. They are certainly not fair -- one of the legal tests the Crown must meet when setting rents.”

He says the government may want to increase its return from high country leases, but like any other landlord, it is bound by the courts’ interpretation of what the wording of the lease means.

“The Crown’s new interpretation is not accepted by lessees or their representatives and as the government knows, the matter will ultimately be settled in the Land Valuation Tribunal or a higher court. To imply that the commissioner has the right to change the terms of a lease is misleading and mischievous.”

Mr Todhunter says farmers have not been charged rent for their views in the past and consider the Crown’s unilateral reinterpretation of their leases to be a breach of faith and of law.

“The current formula was considered to be appropriate by the Armstrong Committee of expert valuers which was commissioned by the government to decide whether rentals were fair to farmers and the Crown. Indeed, the committee found that some farmers were being charged too much rent,” he says.

“We welcome the minister’s assurance that he will accept the decision of the courts and will not change the law to advantage the Crown as landlord. But since the committee was advised by the Crown Law Office and the then minister of lands had promised to honour its findings, you won’t be surprised to learn that farmers are extremely cynical about the Crown and its motives.”

ENDS

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