“A mean looking man at a North Coast market encouraging others to not be conned into paying money to a NSW Govt. appointed LHPA/LLS who sit in ratepayer funded offices sending out bills for their imagined services to the rural sector.”

Small and large landholders in New South Wales are being unjustly taxed by local Rural Lands Protection Boards (from Jan 2009 renamed Livestock Health and Pest Authority which then became Local Land Services in 2013), who demand that annual amounts of $40 and upwards be paid to provide veterinary assistance and disease control for livestock farmers, with promises of feral animal eradication.

However, most small landowners receive no assistance at all from this Authority, even if they know how to request it. If their levies are not paid, the Authority takes legal action and threatens to seize possessions of the property’s occupier (even if a tenant) or to sell the property. Most ratepayers feel they don’t need any services from the LHPAs, now LLS as they have no livestock, while often spending their own money restoring the environment with no help from the government or the statutory authority charged with assisting them. If you find yourself in this frustrating situation there is now hope for reform, as a dedicated group of ratepayers have organised themselves to fight this inequitable tax.

The Rural Lands Protection Group (RLPG) is building a disciplined campaign to oppose the enforcement of these ridiculous levies and regulations, while lobbying for their removal. These levies or state taxes are actually an excise on land and primary production only in NSW, which is illegal under the Australian Constitution.