Thomsen v Struber

Thomsen v Struber involved a dispute over the compensation for a mining lease granted over land owned by the Thomsens. The case was heard in the Queensland Land Court. The Thomsens were seeking compensation for the mining activities conducted by Struber on their property. The primary issue was the determination of the appropriate compensation rate for the mining lease. The miner argued for a compensation rate of $5.00 per hectare per annum based on a recent court decision in Pavey v Struber. The court considered whether the compensation should be based on the recent court judgments, given the absence of expert evidence or submissions from the landowners.

The court found that recent court judgments, specifically Pavey v Struber and Fitzgerald & Ors v Struber, were an appropriate basis for assessing compensation due to the lack of expert evidence or material from the landowners. The court accepted the miner's contention that the compensation rate should be $5.00 per hectare per annum for the access area, as determined in Pavey. The calculation for the compensation was based on the rounded access area, which was rounded up to the nearest hectare. The court ordered that the compensation be paid to the Public Trustee of Queensland on behalf of the Thomsens, who were currently serving a period of imprisonment.

The court's decision resulted in an order for the miner to pay the determined compensation to the Public Trustee of Queensland on behalf of the landowners. The compensation was to be paid within one month of the notification of the mining lease by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines and thereafter on the anniversary of the grant of the mining lease. The compensation for ML 100118 was determined to be $44.00 per annum.