The Director for Public Prosecutions this month revealed his office would not be pursuing charges against Liberal MLC axjmtzywnd former Legislative Council president Terry Stephens.
After initially receiving no nominations for an alternative candidate in Narungga, the Liberal Party last week preselected Barunga Gap farmer Tom Michael to run against Ellis, as revealed by
But the Yorke Peninsula Landowners Group [YPLOG], formed in 2010 to oppose Rex Minerals’ mining exploration activity in the region, yesterday sent an email to its members urging them not to back the Marshall Government’s endorsed candidate.
“As you would be aware, South Australians will be going to the polls to elect a new State Government on 19th March 2022,” the correspondence reads.
“In the past, YPLOG’s policy has been to ask each candidate to outline their position [regarding] the mining versus agriculture issue and circulate those views to YPLOG members with no editorial comment or indication of support for any one of the candidates.
“However, after very careful and lengthy deliberation, the YPLOG Committee, in conjunction with the Concerned Farmers Group, has decided to deviate from this approach for this upcoming election.”
Instead, the two groups have passed a joint motion urging members “to give consideration to supporting Mr Ellis’s strong track record over the past four years in seeking stronger protection for farmers and agriculture against mining incursions and for his other achievements for the benefit of the community”.
Ellis has led several backbench Liberal revolts against the Marshall Government’s contentious changes to the Mining Act, arguing it failed to “balance the interests of the freehold owners of agricultural land and the many mining companies seeking to explore the ground for minerals that may lay beneath their crops”.
Explaining its position, the committee argues that “during his first term in parliament Mr Ellis has, in the committee’s view, been a strong, effective campaigner for greater protection for farmers and agriculture against inappropriate mining development on Yorke Peninsula”.
“He has consistently raised the issue in his parliamentary speeches and media interviews [and] took the unprecedented step on two separate occasions to cross the floor to vote against his own Government’s Mining Bill.
“In so doing, he acted in accordance with the wishes of YPLOG and the YP farming community, who were strongly opposed to this inequitable Bill.”
They also highlighted his presence on a select committee championed by fellow independent Geoff Brock that recommended “a new legislative approach to land access in SA… in line with YPLOG/CFG’s stated position”.
“It is the view of the committee that, during the past four years, Mr Ellis has fulfilled his pre-election promise to fight for a more equitable land access regime for farmers and by so doing, has effectively represented the expressed wishes of YPLOG/CFG and his broader farming constituency,” the email argued.
However, it stipulated the endorsement was “based on the fact that Mr Ellis is standing as an Independent candidate”.
“It does not, in any way, imply an endorsement of the Liberal Party which has done little over the past four years of government to redress the power imbalance between farmers and miners re land access,” the group stated.
“While recognising the possibility of Mr Ellis returning to the Liberal Party at some stage post-election, the committee agreed that our decision could only be based on the current status quo, rather than on what may possibly happen in the future.”
They said that while other candidates in the seat “may also hold pro-farming views which we strongly welcome”, Ellis had “runs on the board and has demonstrated his courage to stand up for his farming constituents against his own party and government”.
