Luke Judge

Updated September 1, 2010 08:52:00

Hunger strike: Peter Spencer spent 52 days without food atop a tower on his property to protest against land clearing laws. (AAP: Ian Hampton)

The High Court is expected to hand down its decision this morning in the case of a New South Wales farmer who is challenging land clearing laws.

Cooma grazier Peter Spencer is arguing the Commonwealth and NSW governments worked together to impose bans on land clearing, allowing Australia to meet its greenhouse gas targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

Mr Spencer has spent the past 13 years arguing the state-based Native Vegetation Act has been used to lock-up farming land because the states – unlike the Commonwealth – do not have to pay compensation.

Last summer he spent 52 days on a tower-top hunger strike on his farm, calling for changes to native vegetation laws.

He says his property has been rendered valueless because he cannot clear his land.

In June the High Court heard Mr Spencer’s special leave application to challenge NSW and Commonwealth laws.

The NSW Farmers’ Association sought – and was granted – leave to intervene in the case in support of Mr Spencer.

Mr Spencer says the case has thrown his argument into the spotlight.

“I’m of the opinion that more people across Australia – including the Parliament – are aware that this entire program was put together by a government to defraud the Australian farmers out of their land,” he said.

“We’ll never get Australia back as what we know it until we can sort this constitutional issue out.”

For more, go to the South East News blog

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‘); relatedMediaItem.appendTo(‘#article_media_related ul’); } } } function collapsePlayer(){ $(“#article_flv_player”).css({“width”:”1px”,”height”:”1px”,”background-color”:”none”}); } function playVideo(vFile) { // track click bam.tracking.track({ async:{ isDynamic : false, compName : “Embedded Article Page Video”, compActivity : “Article Main Video Click”, actionGen : true } }); var bitRate = “1000K”; $(“#article_flv_player”).css({“width”:”640px”,”height”:”390px”,”background-color”:”#000000″,”text-align”:”center”}); var vurl, vcontent_id, vduration; vurl = ‘mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2010/08/17/mlbtv_sfnphi_11078921_1m.mp4′; vcontent_id = ’11078921′; vduration = ’00:01:04′; articleFlvPlayer.startPlaylist([ {type:'freewheelAd', content_id:vcontent_id, duration:bam.media.getDurationInSeconds(vduration)}, {type:"video", path:vurl} ]); // track playback start bam.tracking.track({ async_media:{ mediaID : mediaContentId+”|FLASH_”+bitRate+”_640X360″, playerType : “Flash”, playerContext : “Embedded Article Player”, playerFlavor : “MLB Article”, contextVersion : “3.0″, streamType : “Progressive Download”, bitRate : bitRate } }); return false; } var articleFlvPlayer = new bam.FlvPlayer({ skin : “/flash/video/y2009/skins/mlb_article_page.swf”, hideControls: false, self: “articleFlvPlayer”, elemId: “flashPlayer”, height: 390, width: 640, containerId: “article_flv_player”, playerContext: “Embedded Article Player”, defaultVolume: 35, autoPlay: false, onPlayerLoaded : function(){ bam.tracking.track({ async:{ isDynamic : false, compName : “Embedded Article Page Video”, compActivity : “Embedded Article Video Impression”, actionGen : false } }); }, onCollapse : function(){collapsePlayer();}, onPlaylistComplete: function(){ collapsePlayer(); // track playback complete bam.tracking.track({videoComplete:{playerContext:”Embedded Article Player”}}); } }); $(function(){ $(‘#article_media_thumb’).html(‘‘); $(‘#article_media_headline’).html(mediaMeta.headline); if (mediaMeta.duration!=’00:00:00′) { $(‘#article_media_duration’).html(‘Duration: ‘ + mediaMeta.duration); } $(‘#article_media_bigBlurb’).html(mediaMeta.bigBlurb); loadKeywords(mediaMeta); }); } // Flash alternate ‘); relatedMediaItem.appendTo(‘#article_media_related ul’); }); } }); } PHILADELPHIA — The last time Pat Burrell set foot on the Citizens Bank Park field for a meaningful baseball game he was in the middle of a wild celebration. That was Oct. 27, 2008, and the Phillies had just won the World Series.

Burrell watched a lesser, but just as spirited, celebration Tuesday night on the same turf. It was the Phillies again doing the celebrating, but Burrell wasn’t a part of it. He was wearing the enemy grays and his Giants had just gotten clobbered, 9-3, by the team he grew up with.

“I couldn’t help but think about that night when we won the World Series,” Burrell said in the scary-quiet Giants clubhouse. “It was nice to come back. The reception was awesome.”

It was just an August game, but there was playoff buzz as the 94th consecutive sellout jammed the ballpark — creating a festive atmosphere with first place in the National League Wild Card chase at stake. The Giants and Phillies began the night virtually even.

I believe it’s ridiculous to attach so much hype to the Wild Card in the middle of August. There will be plenty of games as September winds down to get excited about which team is going to the playoffs through the back door.

But on this one night, with a rejuvenated Burrell returning and Phillies’ All-Star second baseman Chase Utley coming back ahead of schedule from an injury, all the ingredients were present.

And in the first inning, after receiving a warm welcome from the fans, the storybook script was perfect. Burrell crushed a solo home run to left field off Roy Oswalt, vaulting the Giants ahead 2-0.

That’s basically where the giddiness ended. The Phillies came back to tie against Barry Zito, jumped ahead, 4-2, in the sixth inning and after the Giants closed to 4-3 on Jose Guillen’s homer, broke the game open.

San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean has done a masterful job of tweaking the Giants with important acquisitions the last few weeks, including a trade for outfielder Jose Guillen on Friday.

Guillen, as evidenced by his homer Tuesday night, gives the Giants the impact power bat they so desperately needed.

Earlier, Sabean traded veteran catcher Bengie Molina to Texas, opening the door for Buster Posey to come into his own. Posey, who carried the Giants in July, is batting .340.

Maybe more important than any other move, the Giants resurrected Burrell after he was released by Tampa Bay, where he failed miserably as a designated hitter. Since joining the Giants on June 4, Burrell is batting .285 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs. He’s driven in the game-winning run in three of the Giants’ last five victories.

In Burrell’s last 20 games he’s hitting .313.

“His experience and the fact he’s been able to put runs on the board has certainly helped us,” Bochy said. “He’s been there [in pennant races] and has been able to come up with big hits.”

But with Tuesday’s loss, the Giants are now five games behind San Diego in the NL West and trail the Phillies by a game for the Wild Card.

The Giants are built on pitching and have one of the best rotations in the NL, but their starters have not recorded a victory in their last 13 games. The Giants’ last five wins have come from five different relievers, but Tuesday night the bullpen had a meltdown, allowing five runs and five hits.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum lost this third straight decision on Sunday, the first three-game losing streak of his career.

Bochy insists its too early to think about the Wild Card, and I agree. In reality, considering how well the Padres are playing — they just took two of three from the Giants — that may be their only ticket to the postseason.

Tuesday began a stretch in which the Giants will play 16 of their next 25 games on the road, where they’re 30-30.

“We hoped to keep it at one run [4-3], but the wheels came off in the eighth inning,” said Bochy, who was ejected after arguing a balk call that allowed a run to score. “We have to forget about this game. We’re going to have some losses, but we have to brush them off and move on. We have no other choice. We have to be resilient.

“You come out the next day and feel like you’re going to win the game.”They get that chance Wednesday night when Matt Cain faces the Phillies’ weakest starter, Joe Blanton.

Bochy says there’s no margin for error “when you’re playing a good team. We certainly didn’t play well enough tonight.”

Zito said: “It’s terribly frustrating to have a 2-0 lead after the first inning and not be able to hold it. We’ve got to do a better job.”

Burrell, who struck out and popped out after his homer, was the Giants’ leadoff batter in the ninth. When the eighth began, the Phillies led, 4-3, and he had thoughts of being able to tie the game.

Instead, the Phillies vaulted ahead, 9-3, and when Burrell ended his night with a pop to second base, it was hardly noticed.

“My years [12] in this organization were incredible,” he said. “I have a lot of very pleasant memories.”

On this night, Pat Burrell had to leave the celebration to his former teammates which wasn’t what he or the Giants planned for.

Hal Bodley