General News
19 December, 2022
Magistrate finds prospector Neville Perry not guilty over damage to heritage site charge
The high profile case of local Neville Perry has come to a close, with the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria finding the prospector not guilty and the charge against him dismissed last week. After a three-day trial last month, Mr Perry fronted the...
The high profile case of local Neville Perry has come to a close, with the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria finding the prospector not guilty and the charge against him dismissed last week.
After a three-day trial last month, Mr Perry fronted the Maryborough Magistrates’ Court with family, friends and supporters who filled the court room on Friday to hear the final verdict as handed down by Magistrate Ross Maxted.
Mr Perry, who represented himself throughout court proceedings, had been charged with knowingly and without consent, damaging a heritage site between December 2017 and September 2019.
The charge related to part of a 500-acre property near Dunolly, owned by Mr Perry, that contains evidence of mining activity dating back to the 19th-century gold rush.
During last month’s trial, the court heard Mr Perry believed he had obtained the required licenses and approvals in 2016, however due to Heritage Victoria expanding the Heritage Inventory — a listing of all known historical archaeological sites in the state in 2017 — the areas where Mr Perry had begun mining were now in contravention of the Heritage Act 2017.
Speaking on Friday, Magistrate Maxted said that after the almost three-day trial, which saw a total 12 witnesses called, he had not been persuaded beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Perry had knowingly committed an offence.
“The offence states the person must not, without consent, knowingly or negligently damage or otherwise interfere with or carry out works at a site that is recorded in the Heritage Inventory,” he said.
“The remapping that was done amounts to an administrative decision by an officer of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning on behalf of its executive director, Heritage Victoria.
“These remapping actions were of a full time public servant acting administratively without any direct parliamentary or regulatory scrutiny over the individual decisions to do so.
“After hearing a substantial amount of evidence from various government agencies, it is clear to me the difficulties Mr Perry had with Heritage Victoria were due to there being no clear line of authority.
“Heritage Victoria did not unequivocally and authoratively revoke any other government authorities rule of the land over which the Inventory existed... the clear lack of communication between all these authorities caused a great deal of confusion.”
Last month the court heard that prior to undertaking mining works at the site, Mr Perry had obtained what he believed to be the relevant prospecting licenses, permits, land and cultural heritage assessments from the required bodies and government departments, including Earth Resources.
The area of Mr Neville’s property of particular interest to Heritage Victoria and listed under the Inventory was a tributary to Charlie’s Gully, a former stream which contains evidence of digging holes and where, in 2018, Mr Perry uncovered a 2.5 kilogram gold nugget.
The discovery had been aired on popular prospecting series Aussie Gold Hunters and Heritage Victoria inspectors attended the property in September 2019, later issuing Mr Perry with a letter asking he cease mining activity.
Magistrate Maxted said the lack of clarity around Heritage Victoria’s Inventory was worsened by Heritage Victoria’s inspectors failing to take action against a neighbouring landholder who was also undertaking mining works unknowingly within the Inventory.
“Despite clear and active prospecting work at that site, as told by the neighbour himself, Heritage Victoria took no issue with works taking place on that land,” he said.
“Work was clearly being undertaken at the neighbouring property... this inconsistent application of the Heritage Act 2017 continued to cause confusion to Mr Perry.”
While the criminal element of the matter was put to bed last week, the matter was further adjourned until March next year as Mr Perry pursues compensation for legal costs in the order of $60,000.
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Perry described it as a victory for all landholders but said this is the first step in regaining access to his property.
“I’m very emotional, I got emotional when the Magistrate found me not guilty but I’m really emotional because of the support from everyone, it’s been fantastic,” he said on Friday.
“The decision today does not mean I can go and start work on my land, I have my licensing and everything approved but I still can’t work because the land is now under this Heritage Inventory — that’s another fight I’ve got to have now.
“This shows that overlays like this can be placed over anyone’s lands at any time without notice and people have no knowledge of what’s happening through the government processes.”
Mr Perry, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, said his dream has always been to mine his own land — something the government has stopped him from doing.
“I’m still fighting the battle with my health but more importantly I just want to go back to work,” he said.
“To me this is a form of land acquisition without compensation. I’m being charged rates for farming and I’m being charged rent for mining on that land but I can’t do any of that because it’s under the Inventory, the government basically owns that land now.
“Through this process they’ve removed my entire livelihood and income — the government have tried to destroy my dream.
“I will say to anybody that if you have a dream and you’re passionate about it, fight for it with all your heart and soul.”