Cranbrook landowner Peter Swift made a 700-kilometer round trip to deliver a letter to Prime Minister Mark McGowan’s office requesting a meeting on the land issue, which Swift said caused him a financial and mental crisis.

Mr. Swift, a former diesel mechanic, fulfilled his dream by buying his own farm 12 years ago, but has since been drawn into a bureaucratic and legal nightmare.

Soon after he bought the land, the state government considered 200 hectares of his 485 hectares of property to be an environmentally sensitive area (ESA), while when he bought land, the Cranbrook Hiring Board declared the land as agricultural land and did not issue restrictions ESA

ESA means that livestock cannot be grazed on this plot of land and, thus, almost half of the plot is taken from agricultural turnover. A grazing permit can be issued, but it only lasts for two to five years and can be revoked at any time, which gives too much uncertainty to buy livestock, said Mr. Swift. In addition to this trouble, Mr. Swift also He was accused of illegally cleaning the property of the then Department of Environmental Regulation.

In 2013, he was found not guilty after a three-year trial, but it cost him $ 360,000 in court costs for his defense. Mr. Swift's letter to the office of Prime Minister of Western Australia Mr. McGowan states that the Minister of the Environment Stephen Dawson ousted him from his land, and Secretary of Health Roger Cook "rather recommends him to calm his mental state, and does not help solve the problem."

The landowner said he had contacted government departments and agencies for more than a decade, and no one wanted to listen or take responsibility. As a result, land will be sold due to mortgage debts to the bank, and Peter Swift will lose “hundreds of thousands of dollars” out of pocket because of the loss of property, the costs of defending oneself in court and the inability to work elsewhere due to damage to his mental health.

Mr. Swift said he wanted to meet with the Prime Minister so that he knew about the impact of government actions on voters and demanded restitution so that he had the hope of starting all over again. Mr. McGowan's office spokesman said the prime minister would respond to the letter as as soon as possible.