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by John F Howard in Townsville

Netherlands-based bank Rabobank with the aid of an armada of government-paid enforcers arriving in government vehicles along with grubby receivers Ferrier Hodgson heavied Noeline Bradshaw and her son Neil to get off their cattle property, Ballabay north of Pentland.

Noelene and Neil were arrested by several violent officers and marched off to the paddy wagon

Although the receivers and Rabobank representatives indicated they would go to the negotiating table after a court appearance on Thursday, in order to avoid a welcoming party at the property they did not arrive on Monday February 20 as they had indicated.

Instead they arrived in military style on Wednesday, with enforcers blocking the entry road and threatening any media or supporters with arrest if they tried to enter.

Ferrier Hodgson were supposed to remove the family on “voluntary terms” as they had suggested.

It appears they did not wish to have any other parties present when removing the entire family.

Neil Bradshaw owns cattle on the property that are not mortgaged to Rabobank. He previously circulated descriptions and brands of his cattle to all livestock agents and meatworks warning them not to deal with the cattle.

This sorry saga of a foreign bank dispossessing honest, hard-working Australians from their properties is completely sanctioned by the LNP and Labor Party.

Banking industry sources believe Rabobank is acting in league with coal and gas companies to remove land holders in order to easily access known coal and gas reserves in the Pentland district.

“Rabobank will have token buyers lined up ready to buy the properties at discounted prices, leaving the Bradshaws holding the bag with a $1 million or more deficit, which without any means of income they will never be able to pay off,” the source said.

Yesterday Member for Kennedy Bob Katter weighed into this disgraceful episode, contacting the Labor Polce Minister(whose husband is a police inspector) then arriving at the Charters Towers police station to get the Bradshaws out of the watch house.

He was told the Bradshaws had been released just before he arrived.

The clearly upset Bob Katter told Cairns News that the lending practices of the banks are designed to allow foreclosures.

“In this case the bank loaned the family too much money because of droughts and poor cattle prices then the government-instigated live cattle export ban which placed them in an unviable position,” he said

“The banks are a law unto themselves and there is no power on earth to control them.

“I have got hundreds of similar cases on file where farmers have not been able to get any relief from any of the so-called government watchdogs like ACCC, courts, the Reserve Bank ASIC and others that are supposed to offer financially stressed businesses relief.

“Banks like Rabobank continue to flagrantly break the law.

“The Bradshaws are devastated after a lifetime’s work to lose their possessions to a foreign bank or any bank.

“The bank will make a profit of half a million or more from these seizures and the Bradshaws will have to carry a $1 million or more debt for the rest of their lives.

“This assault on an Australian farming family clearly demonstrates the urgent need for a Royal Commission into banking practices.”