Trevor Hold, the Queensland leader of the Australian Advocacy Group, was fined $1,500 after being convicted of obstructing government officers at his Adare property. The charges followed an April 16 standoff where Hold blocked an access gate while his supporters filmed and shouted at biosecurity personnel. Magistrate Leanne Scoines rejected Hold's claims of withdrawing consent, labelling his notices quasi-legal and ruling that officers operated strictly within their legal mandates. Hold has since launched an appeal in the district court while raising funds online for a potential class-action lawsuit.
Key points
The Queensland Biosecurity Act legally requires landholders to provide officers access to…: The Queensland Biosecurity Act legally requires landholders to provide officers access to treat fire ants.
A magistrate firmly rejected quasi-legal consent arguments and determined that eradicatio…: A magistrate firmly rejected quasi-legal consent arguments and determined that eradication officers acted within their legal powers.
Hold has appealed the magistrate court's judgment to the district court while pursuing a…: Hold has appealed the magistrate court's judgment to the district court while pursuing a potential class action.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The Queensland leader of a group opposing the eradication of fire ants in Australia has been convicted of obstructing government officers, after a magistrate threw out his argument that the commonwealth-funded program is illegal.
Trevor Hold was fined $1,500 but a conviction was not recorded. Hold has described himself as an “ultrapreneur”, a mental health counsellor, an organic cattle farmer and the chief executive officer of the anti-program group the Australian Advocacy Group – and as self-employed.
He was convicted last month of two counts of obstruction for attempting to prevent fire ant treatment at his property, in what is believed to be a Queensland first.
His organisation and others held a series of well attended meetings last year across south-east Queensland to advise residents on what the group called their legal rights to refuse or prevent access to their properties to the program.
Under Queensland’s Biosecurity Act, landholders must permit program officers to access their property to treat fire ants, which are a declared priority pest.
But the organisations advised landholders to use a provision in the act allowing…
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