Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 27, 2012 at 9:25am

Matt & Janet will be making an announcement in a discussion that they will soon publish on the Main forum of Just Grounds. I have got this discussion back up on the site to provide a reference point for Matt & Janet's new discussion.

The Thompson family have hung in on their property keeping the recievers at bay for 14 months now. It is a long time when under considerable pressure from many directions.

 

There had been many good comments to this original discussion, unfortunally I haven't a copy to get them back up.

 

Permalink Reply by Joanne Rea on January 27, 2012 at 11:33am

Dale

We all know that Matt & Jane's cause is a true one. It is unbelievable that in a first world country, the actions of government departments, condoned by government, can cause a family who have done nothing wrong to lose a business.

For any one who is not familiar with Matt & Janet, they fulfilled every condition of their license, no matter how arduous and still they were not allowed to operate at an economically sustainable level.

The whole story, including links to interviews with government personnell, some of whom knew they were not being treated according to law is available on Jo Nova's site which is linked above.

No wonder we have a cynical rural population scrutinizing the wording  of leases and trying to second guess governments and government departments as in another discussion on the PRA page. 

Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 27, 2012 at 11:34am

Joanne Nova has written an excellent series of articles. Below I will provide links to those articles of Joanne's from the time this discussion was originally published. By following these links you will be able to access information as it was updated from October 2010.

 

Dirty tactics? Fences cut at the Thompsons…  Oct 6th 2010 [click here]

 

DEC, deceptive, duplicitous, or just clueless about money? Oct 22nd 2010  [click here]

 

Donna Faragher: armed with unpublished complaint-mail and an unbankable license — destroys livelihoods Oct 31st 2010  [click here]

 

An update from the Thompsons down under Nov 4th 2010  [click here]

 

Breakthrough: DEC ‘s all-purpose (green) business licence Nov 11th 2010  [click here]

 

Update from the Thompsons: The legal limbo drags on  Dec 1st 2010  [click here]

 

Farmers fighting for a fair go. Updates on The Thompsons and Peter Spencer June 7th 2011 [click here]

 

And the reason why there have been lesser articles towards the end of 2011 is because it was more of "the legal limbo drags on" which makes it difficult to keep Matt & Janet's story to the forefront of discussion.

Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 27, 2012 at 2:04pm

The most recent discussion on Just Grounds about Matt & Janet, thanks to Rob Moore & Leon Pittard

 

A Fairdinkum Australian Story - Matt & Janet Thompson  [click here]

 

Permalink Reply by Matt Thompson on January 28, 2012 at 8:42am

Update for all of our many friends who have helped and supported us all this time.  We have spent the last year and a half trying to navigate complicated legal proceedings to keep the feedlot that we, Lindley Boseley and many others worked so hard to build.  It seems clear that someone else wants it, and DEC will allow someone else to run it.  Although we have been successful from a legal point of veiw in preventing them from taking control of all of our assets so far, the situation is not good living on the place and not being able to do anything with it while all this plays out in the courts.  After a year and a half we have still never been offered an opportunity to present the main body of our case against DEC.  Therefore, we have decided we must do something different, while we continue our battle in court on behalf of our creditors, and other productive enterprises that have been or will be destroyed by bureaucratic overreach.  We are moving to the US and I have take a job there managing a cattle feedlot for someone else.  We will certainly miss all of our Australian friends and wish all of you all the best in the very difficult times ahead for all of us.

Here is a little bit Janet wrote.  She is currently in the US trying to organize a place to live and schools for our kids.   Hopefully, at some point there will be a complete book.

 

Matt is taking a job in San Angelo, Texas, with a wonderful family who own a feedlot/farming operation.  He is back in Australia now, packing up. 

 

We're still going to pursue the DEC in order to hopefully pay back the good people we owe, but will move on with our lives in the mean time.  A huge part of our decision involved being closer to parents/grandparents, as, given our circumstances, we could not afford to fly back to visit.

 

We love Narrogin, love Western Australia, and love Australia.  No regrets.  For the sake of our lovely friends, I hope that reality bites the out-of-control bureaucracies and power-mongering pollies soon. 

 

To all of our Australian friends, we will miss you, but look forward to staying in touch and to you visiting us in Texas!!  (We're a 3.5 hour drive from D/FW airport.)

Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 28, 2012 at 9:27am

 

Matt,

I can completely understand the need to again undertake productive work. To be trapped at a facility that you put your time, money & heart into, that is now empty & unproductive would be soul destroying.

Getting back at work at your field of expertise will provide the balance and energy to continue your fight.

All the best Matt & Janet, we all hope that you can continue to participate in your valued contributions at Just Grounds.

Permalink Reply by Beverley Prescott on January 28, 2012 at 5:56pm

Matt and Janet,

I want to wish you all the very best in your future ventures.

It is disappointing that there was such a vendetta against your legitimate business in WA.  You cannot be expected to hang around going broke in the meantime.

I have at least been to the airport you mention - had a few hours wait there in 1998 when my plane from Vancouver to Dallas was late meaning I missed the connecting flight from Dallas to Tampa, Florida.  It was interesting talking to vaious Texans and others that happened to be there during the few hours as well.

I am sure the future will work out just fine for you.

At least you can still peak in here when time permits.

We would love to hear of your pursuits.

Cheers, from North Queensland.

Permalink Reply by Ian Macrae Yeates on January 28, 2012 at 6:06pm

Hi Matt and Janet,

It is quite understandable that you decided to move to Texas and be working with the cattle again! However USA's gain is our loss. 

One of our spiritual supports, Jerry Savelle, is based in Fort Worth.

Cheers,

Ian

Permalink Reply by Michael Petterson on January 28, 2012 at 8:39pm

Agreed on all counts. I am deeply ashamed that you should have been harrassed like this,all because you tried to expose the fraud that is behind DEC. No Australian should have to put up with this,or subject another Australian to this. I wish you all the best hopes for the future,both in the U.S and in your everyday life,and the best hopes for your win against the tyrannical idiots that have oppressed you through the last through years. If I lived in WA I'd go to DEC and give them a very large piece of my mind over this. On another note maybe I should run for PM,because my first move would be to outlaw all these stupid Green groups if they insisted on behaving like this and to deport them all as undesirables.

Matt Thompson said:

Update for all of our many friends who have helped and supported us all this time.  We have spent the last year and a half trying to navigate complicated legal proceedings to keep the feedlot that we, Lindley Boseley and many others worked so hard to build.  It seems clear that someone else wants it, and DEC will allow someone else to run it.  Although we have been successful from a legal point of veiw in preventing them from taking control of all of our assets so far, the situation is not good living on the place and not being able to do anything with it while all this plays out in the courts.  After a year and a half we have still never been offered an opportunity to present the main body of our case against DEC.  Therefore, we have decided we must do something different, while we continue our battle in court on behalf of our creditors, and other productive enterprises that have been or will be destroyed by bureaucratic overreach.  We are moving to the US and I have take a job there managing a cattle feedlot for someone else.  We will certainly miss all of our Australian friends and wish all of you all the best in the very difficult times ahead for all of us.

Here is a little bit Janet wrote.  She is currently in the US trying to organize a place to live and schools for our kids.   Hopefully, at some point there will be a complete book.

 

Matt is taking a job in San Angelo, Texas, with a wonderful family who own a feedlot/farming operation.  He is back in Australia now, packing up. 

 

We're still going to pursue the DEC in order to hopefully pay back the good people we owe, but will move on with our lives in the mean time.  A huge part of our decision involved being closer to parents/grandparents, as, given our circumstances, we could not afford to fly back to visit.

 

We love Narrogin, love Western Australia, and love Australia.  No regrets.  For the sake of our lovely friends, I hope that reality bites the out-of-control bureaucracies and power-mongering pollies soon. 

 

To all of our Australian friends, we will miss you, but look forward to staying in touch and to you visiting us in Texas!!  (We're a 3.5 hour drive from D/FW airport.)

Permalink Reply by Joanne Rea on January 29, 2012 at 9:03am

Matt and Janet

We wish you well.

I spent a considerable time last night trying to express how I felt about the ordeal you have been subjected to but the words would not flow.

I wanted to say something meaningful about a department in which the activists declared a depression in a paddock a water course to give themselves a power over you that the parliament did not, a noisy campaign by government funded bullies, an incompetent set of lawyers but mostly about the unethical Dr. Schoombee who should be de registered for failing to declare his association with the government funded bullies. It was the government department which reviewed itself and according to its own minutes did not follow its own rules and it was about big banking who could stand with its clients to fight some of this self appointed demigod status but will not.

Not least of all a concerned Australian public should be reviewing the performance of all the Western Australian Ministers of both persuasions who were made aware of the situation (and they all were made aware by an intense letter writing campaign) and did nothing which has shown the weakness of having a dictatorial policy with limited avenues of impartial review coupled with powerless or careless politicians.  Most if not all state politicians just passed the letters of concern to the DEC.

But you did have support, strong support from good people and good organisations.

You had the letter writers and journalists or writers such as Jo Nova and the local council.

Peter Spencer.

Your fight goes on. Let us pray that the Justice system is more robust than our supposed Parliamentary Democracy.

Some Federal politicians such as Wilson Tuckey and Dennis Jensen were supporters.

South Australian Senator Cory Bernadi spoke about your case in the Australian Federal Parliament  saying in part we cannot allow government bureaucrats and departments to ride roughshod over common sense and common decency. We cannot allow government to become unruly and unwieldy in its restraint of decent businesses. To do so would send a very poor message, not only to people intent on building up their own investments in Australia but to people who are interested in investing here from overseas, like the Thompsons.

None of this impressed DEC: not under a Labour government and not under a Liberal National Party Government.

I am deeply ashamed and concerned that our supposedly first world, democratic country can fall victim to the untrammelled power of doctrinaire departments outside the authority of parliament and the proper supervision of Ministers.

To have another party running your feedlot would be the unkindest cut of all.

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Rory Donnellan on January 30, 2012 at 7:44am

Matt and Janet,

All the best with your new venture in Texas, and thank you for your continued assistance in shining a light on  the DEC and other local enforcers of UN agendas.

Permalink Reply by Ilana Yael Leeds on January 31, 2012 at 8:59am

B'H

It is always heartbreaking to watch good work go down the drain because of the bully tactics used by those who have the power to do so, destroy your life and you feel as though you are in a well of despair and the sides of which are very slippery. No matter how hard you try, you keep slipping back down.

Often in that case, the healthiest thing you have to do is to cut your losses and move on. They will show you no mercy whether you are a father trying to support your family and make a good living for yourself or a single parent struggling to raise a child. It is about power and using it to control and destroy others. I think there is a vicarious element of pleasure in this that translates down to man's most primative nature which is of a hunter and a gatherer. We keep this primal side under wraps but it is still there. It is part of our essential nature and those say it is not are denying a part of their own instinctive behaviour. I believe bully behaviour comes from a deep place that many do not understand because some of the worst offenders are in high places and these people would have been very successful hunters. It is a competitive world out there but something is out of control when we break down boundaries and allow unethical behaviour to flourish and indeed reward it. The fact that receivers can and do intimidate and devalue those whose properties they control by default to the extent that they will see it as their right to collect personal mail and keep it shows how the boundaries have been crossed and it is quite frightening. It says to you, Matt that "you are worthless and your property is ours. We own you and can do what we like with you. We are in control."

The thing is you have the edge when you are still enraged by  the lack of respect and the  lack of rightness in the whole thing. You understand that you have been wronged and badly so.

I have kept my edge and anger high at what was done to me in teaching and it has become a part of my psyche for better or worst. I had an early lesson in how wrongs can be rewarded many years ago when in my early twenties I shared a flat with three women. Two of whom ran up an $800 phone bill ( sizeable amount in 1979 and one of whom got me fired from my job at Grazcos in Charleville because she wanted my job and to demean and belittle me for some strange reason. I never forget and I never forgive betrayals like that. My father ended up paying the bill and he was the only person in my family who believed me when I said it was not my phone bill. How is this relevant? It taught me to stand alone and never ever back down when you are in the right. NEVER. Because if you do back down and submit to the wrongs that they inflict on you and allow them to break your spirit you become half the person you once were. It teaches you to be wary of people and to test people over time. Never allow people to convince you that you are the irrational one and you are wrong when others are doing things that are totally unethical and wrong.  Your integrity depends on you continuing to fight and fight for what is right to the day you die. Some people commit suicide. Suicide is for those who have lost total hope and in my view for sissies. You fight with every damn inch of your heart and soul and do not allow them to break you.

Write a book in your spare time and I hope it becomes a best seller. Co write it with your wife and carry the fight on because you owe it to your children. The day that ruthless and unethical people who lie and lie to control this world and create false truth means that we have all lost something of our essential human nature that transcends the base instinctive drives and that lifts us out of the morass. Our morals, our compassion and our ethics are what makes us better than animals and connects us to a higher power I believe.

Good luck in your new venture and I do hope you write a book because I want to read it.

Prosper and do well in all things - blessings.

Ilana