Pavey & Anor v Struber & Anor

Pavey and Anor brought an action against Struber and Anor concerning the grant of mining leases and the determination of compensation. The case was heard by the Queensland Land Court. The dispute arose from the grant of mining leases over the plaintiffs' land, and the primary issue was the determination of compensation for the land taken by the leases. The court also considered the absence of expert or valuation evidence and whether it could rely on previous court judgments to determine the compensation amount.

The court considered the nature of compensation for the grant of mining leases under the Mining Act 1978. It also examined the circumstances in which the court could determine compensation in the absence of expert or valuation evidence, particularly in cases where previous judgments had established compensation rates for similar leases. The court noted that it was appropriate to consider previous court decisions as a guide in determining the compensation amount, given the absence of specific evidence in the current case.

The court determined that the compensation for the mining leases should be based on previous judgments, given the lack of expert or valuation evidence. It referred to previous cases to establish a compensation rate for each mining lease. The court found that the compensation for the mining leases should be set at $171.00 per annum for ML 100095, $374.00 per annum for ML 100086, and $187.00 per annum for ML 100093. The court ordered that the compensation be paid to the Public Trustee of Queensland on behalf of the landowners within three months of the notification of the issue of the mining lease by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines and on the anniversary of the grant of each lease.