[meteorite-list] Squabble Over Australian Meteorite

From: Jeff Kuyken <info_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:59:01 +1100
Message-ID: <C400CB45106243CDAE76950DE2D406DC_at_JeffPC>

Hi Eric,

No, there are only two states in Australia where the property owner (or
finder if on crown land) owns the meteorite. They are Victoria and NSW.
Queensland doesn't have specific meteorite laws but I've been told there is
an old fossicking law which the state government could probably implement to
take ownership if they wanted. All the rest of Australia (most of it) have
specific laws which state that regardless of where a meteorite is found, it
is owned by the State Government that the stone is found in.

Cheers,

Jeff



----- Original Message -----
From: "Meteorites USA" <eric at meteoritesusa.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 5:55 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Squabble Over Australian Meteorite


> Hi All,
>
> Yet another argument over ownership of a meteorite. This time it's in
> Australia.
>
> Am I wrong, or doesn't the landowner own all rights to a meteorite found
> on his property in Australia?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> By Sophie Elsworth
> November 27, 2009 11:00pm
>
> Bushies squabble over hunk of rock from a meteorite:
> ARTICLE:
> http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26410773-952,00.html
> PHOTO: http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,7224513,00.jpg
>
> THIS is the meteorite, currently in police hands, at the centre of a
> bizarre custody battle. It is actually believed to be the state's
> second-biggest stony meteorite, and now residents of Cunnamulla, about
> 825km west of Brisbane, are in a bitter dispute over this
> "peculiar-looking rock" discovered alongside a fence on a grazing
> property.
>
> Disability pensioner Tom King, 53, was caretaker at Rywanda Plainview,
> about 70km south of Cunnamulla, when he saw the 25kg rock that could be
> worth tens of thousands of dollars. But, suffering from a bad back, he
> said he couldn't move it, so it wasn't until seven months later he asked
> two men to help him load it on to the back of his ute.
>
> "I thought it was a big Aboriginal stone," he said. "I asked two fellas
> who were with me to help lift it on to my ute. I thought I'd add it to my
> stone collection."
>
> But that's when the trouble started.
>
> Less than 24 hours later, officers allegedly arrested Mr King and ordered
> him to hand over the rock.
>
> He claims a tussle then began over ownership of the rock between him, the
> owners and lessees of the property, the men who loaded it on to his ute,
> the Queensland Museum and police.
>
> Mr King said he's been "stressed to the max" and could barely sleep since
> the rock was taken from him, and said he could not afford legal
> representation to take the matter to court.
>
> "I was like a dog chasing a tail. I couldn't do anything," he said.
>
> Mr King said he wants the rock to have a safe home at the museum in the
> centre of town.
>
> "When I found out it could be a meteorite, why not put it in the museum
> here and give our little bush town something to go on," he said.
>
> But Queensland Museum curator Dr Alex Cook hopes the stony object will be
> given to the Brisbane museum.
>
> "We are hopeful that the owner will realise the potential significance of
> the find and be inspired to donate it to the Queensland Museum to allow
> experts to analyse and study it," he said.
>
> Police yesterday said the item remained in their possession until they
> could "determine the lawful owner".
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> Regards,
> Eric Wichman
> Meteorites USA
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
Received on Fri 27 Nov 2009 06:59:01 PM PST