Former Wagga city councillor Paul Funnell near the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga. It is Australia's second longest river.

FORMER Wagga city councillor Paul Funnell, says property rights have been stripped away by the Minns Labor government’s latest amendment to the Water NSW Act, 2014, which allows government agencies to inundate private land for the cause of the environment.

“In a single move, the Minns Labor Govt last Thursday stripped everyone of their fundamental property rights by sneaking through the Water Amendment Bill 2026,” said Mr Funnell, who runs sheep and irrigation on the Riverina.

The Water Management Amendment (Easements for Inundation) Bill 2025 will create a framework for permanent easements, enabling government water authorities to legally inundate private land for environmental water delivery purposes.

The NSW government claims the legislation will allow water to flow into “areas in need, such as the internationally protected Gwydir wetlands”.

Mr Funnell says property rights are overthrown by one section of the legislation – the Schedule 2 Amendment No. 74, which covers inundation of private land and moving water to across land including private land.

The amendment omits’ “community.” from section 7(1)(k) and inserts instead “to release or supply water, including environmental water, to inundate land for an environmental purpose, to operate works to inundate land for an environmental purpose, in the exercise of a function, to inundate land.”

Section 37, formerly titled “Compensation by Water NSW for damage” now includes after section 37(3) “No compensation is payable under this section for damage resulting from the inundation of land as a consequence of anything done, or omitted to be done, by Water NSW.”

“This is a violation of everyone’s property rights and the erosion of common law rights that are the basis of the Westminster system which is being attacked by this legislation,” says Mr Funnell.

“This should send a shiver down the spine of every person in this state.”

Independent MP Helen Dalton plans to introduce a further bill to parliament that would provide accountability for affected landholders.

“I ask the people of Sydney and the major cities to imagine if this principle was applied to them, ” she told parliament last week.

The NSW Nationals say the legislation will erode the property rights of landholders, causing further breakdown in trust with regional communities.

The Nationals have also raised alarm over a late-stage government amendment, not properly consulted on with landholders or peak bodies, which would remove compensation rights for damage caused by government-directed inundation.

Shadow Minister for Water Steph Cooke said the Bill entrenches a rigid and unfair approach to environmental water delivery that locks landholders into permanent impacts without genuine choice.

“This Bill locks in permanent inundation easements as the only pathway to delivering water to the environment, stripping landholders of flexibility and removing the ability to tailor agreements to individual circumstances,” Ms Cooke said.

“What is most alarming is the government’s refusal to genuinely consider deed-of-release arrangements, despite repeatedly acknowledging landholder concerns.

“Instead, they have doubled down on permanent easements and now, at the eleventh hour, introduced a change to remove compensation rights entirely.

“That is a major escalation with zero consultation.”

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By cairnsnews

From the land of Australians

19 thought on “Shocking NSW legislation strips away property rights in the name of environment”
  1. Well folks,

    Just in case you haven’t noticed yet, Australia as we thought we knew it has been in CRISIS for DECADES now.

    And the crisis is EXISTENTIAL, little by little, step by step, inch by inch, piece by piece, these craven low-life Treasonous sold-out paid-off foreign-owned mongrel arsehole bastards are DISMANTLING and DEMOLISHING our country out from under us.

    Think you “own” your own home, think you “own” your land? Dream on. You DO know that they WIPED OUT all the land titles YEARS ago, they literally took them all and SHREDDED and DESTROYED them, right? You DO understand that the blood-sucking BANKSTERS now OWN EVERYTHING whether you KNEW it or not and whether you LIKE it or not, right?

    Think you have some money stashed away in your bank account for a rainy day? Pig’s Arse! It’s not YOUR money, it’s the BANK’S money now, because world-renowned child-molesting PAEDOPHILE and celebrated mass-murderer Snuff Scotty PUSHED THE LEGISLATION through in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT way back in 2018 to transform ALL your “bank accounts” into UNSECURED INVESTMENTS which are the BANK’S property. Surprise!

    And guess what, folks? They have the CORPORATE ARMIES of utterly remorseless gun-toting Australia-hating shit-for-brains Granny-bashing child-molesting pig-raping mass-murdering hired mercenary thugs to PROVE it, to enforce ALL of it.

    Even someone as abstractly gifted as Cliff High has discerned Australia’s UTTERLY CORRUPT TRAJECTORY from the gleanings of his language-scouring web bots. Have a gander at THIS little gem, from 39:25 tp 43:00…

    [ rumble.com/v7ags18-clif-high-gold-and-silver-investors-may-not-be-ready-for-whats-coming-next.html ]

  2. The Constitution has a section that guarantees resumption of land is subject to fair compensation. The states are subject to the Constitution. They operate on bluff, hoping that noone will take it to the HCA.

  3. Charlie Farley and his mum sold out to Swissy, probably more than half the barons too, judging at least by our Teal tinted Baron S. Hacca and Greenish Baron Twiggy of Bunbury. Our political minions state and federal are trying to reclaim all the small farms and hand them to UNDRIP for Swissy control of blackfella territory which everyone will be swindled out of via treaties with the UN, Geneva. We have the evidence already, “The Voice” got voted down so they did it in Victoria anyway I believe, and probably scheduled to do it in more states as the opportunity arises. Statecraft is ideally done by small tweaks over a long time so nobody notices. The next generation is programmed to think “it’s normal”. Now they are sending out Swissy’s blackfella ambassador, that nice “Jessica Mauboy” ( WEF YGL ) to soften the young voters up. Nice Jessica says she doesn’t know how she got such a nice singing and acting career. I don’t know either, what she had to do for Klaus & co as a young teenager. Klaus has lots of YGLs in reserve to potentially feed into Canberra as opportunities arise. Members of this contingent are presently getting their careers boostered in other sectors.

  4. Mr Rope and Mrs Lamppost evidently scared of getting their feet wet

  5. Might be useful if we were to do a ‘petition’ against things like this. Right, possums? Just in case our bosses run into a toilet paper shortage and before they extinguish all our land ownership rights along with our already extinguished Title Deeds.

  6. Firstly a “Person” is a thing of non gender, a legal personality and not living as in the word “People”, therefore no harm can be done to a “Person” get the picture and all their Legislation and pretend Laws refer to “Person”.

    So how would it sound if the wording in a Constitution was “We the Persons” instead of “We the People” or as in the land of Oz “Whereas the People” was used, can you see where I am going, these remorseless pricks playing with semantics wherein the Bar Attorneys like Whitlam converted our Government into a Corporation, our Money into promissory notes all without referendum and registered it in Washington DC and all the Polly’s followed like sheep.

    A Bill without Royal assent is not a law and these lawless arseholes have no authority…

    These pricks are heading our People toward the fourth box and Mr Rope and Lamp post know what box that is!

    If People would only real eyes that if their (Grubber Mint) actions cause harm and got involved with TASA or other like minded alternatives and stood their ground together then these inland Pirates and their bought and paid for Mercenary thugs could be dealt with Lawfully under Military Law, but whilst they cling to the notion that they are citizens rather that nationals then they must cop it sweet.

    When People wake the fock up that when the People willingly rebel against their belligerent occupiers then Article 11.3.1 of the Law of War applies to these arseholes, but whilst we trade with the enemy they will endure.

    Our once great land has been captured by the Banksters and John has been at them for many decades but sadly they can’t allow him to win under any circumstances.

    Of course one could be wrong, however will stand corrected if one has it wrong.

    If there is ever a Hall of honour in the distant future then John Wilsons name should be inscribed therein for his perseverance and on the subject of perseverance, and as thy Brother once said “With a little good quality oil and some perseverance it would be possible to stretch a mosquitoes arsehole over a forty-four gallon drum”…

  7. What a fabulous idea , one small problem is, where does the water come from in time of droughts seeing that country is bone dry

  8. Yep, move some of those pesky farmers into the 15 minute gulags, flood them out.
    One problem farmers have is they don’t get to write the rules that wreck the lives of politicians.

  9. Marx Engels and Lenin they all were relatives of King of Prussia (Keiser Wilhelm) king of great Britain, Tsar of Russia that is Almanach de Saxe Gotha.Owners of the earth.Creators of communism.

  10. John Wilson said – “… JURIES NULLIFY BAD LAWS…”
    .
    John, John, John, you adorably naive patriot you…

    “Juries” have nothing whatsoever to do with CORPORATE POLICY.
    .
    Because that’s what we’re dealing with, we don’t have a COUNTRY, we have a foreign-owned GANGSTER CORPORATION, registered in Washington DC, belligerently OCCUPYING our continent. And not being “stakeholders” or “shareholders” in said corporation, none of us have ANY SAY in what the CORPORATION gets up to. No, not ANY of us, not even your much-vaunted “juries”.
    .
    And just BTW, they OWN the joint from top to bottom, and they have the CORPORATE ARMIES of utterly remorseless gun-toting Australia-hating shit-for-brains Granny-bashing child-molesting pig-raping mass-murdering hired mercenary thugs to PROVE it.
    .
    What have YOU got?

  11. JURIES NULLIFY BAD LAWS. It’s called the 3RD Box in Defence of Liberty that is used when the 2ND Box (the Ballot Box) fails to do the job.

  12. Communist governments that apparently got voted into power by wide awake Australians, from parties of Labour/Greens/Liberals/and Nationals/and Teals and possibly other leftist politicians, and who want Australian water that belongs to its public Sovereignty to be wasted and used up by offshore legislations and profit making, these Commo pretend governments, both Federal and State corporations, businesses for profit, just take what they want whenever they want it, and shut you up about it with discrimination ‘fake laws’.
    Wake up and stand up for what is right, Australians, and prove that you are worthy of this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.
    Don’t let this Satanic Pretend Government and fake non-government police, steal your rights and property.

  13. Got plenty to tell this bloke, but the only contact is via his defunct Council Facebook page that has no phone number or email address attached. Poor show.
    In any event, old stager Mona Pamela posted this on that page:-and I don’t knwo why she hasn’t got a website of her own by now, as she has been at it for years now, just like me:
    Mona Pamela
    for education purposes
    Informed consent is a fundamental fiduciary, ethical, and legal obligation imposed upon all healthcare practitioners, medical officers, hospitals, tribunals, administrators, and all persons acting in positions of trust, authority, confidence, or influence over another human being. It arises from the sacred and inviolable duty owed by every healthcare provider to act with utmost good faith, loyalty, honesty, candour, and fidelity toward the patient, who remains the sole lawful beneficiary of their own body, mind, liberty, autonomy, and medical estate.
    No practitioner, institution, agent, servant, employee, contractor, or governmental authority may lawfully interfere with the bodily integrity, medical autonomy, liberty, or decision-making capacity of any individual without first obtaining that individual’s free, voluntary, informed, conscious, and fully comprehending consent. Any medical intervention undertaken absent lawful informed consent may constitute trespass against the person, assault, battery, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, unconscionable conduct, professional misconduct, abuse of authority, malfeasance in public office, and violations of fundamental human rights and natural justice principles.
    The doctrine of informed consent imposes strict fiduciary responsibilities and obligations, including but not limited to the following:
    1. Full and Frank Disclosure
    Healthcare providers are under an absolute fiduciary duty to make full, frank, honest, and complete disclosure of all material facts relevant to the patient’s decision-making process. This includes, but is not limited to:
    * the true nature of the condition, diagnosis, or proposed procedure;
    * the purpose and necessity of the proposed treatment;
    * all known and foreseeable risks, dangers, complications, adverse effects, and long-term consequences;
    * all expected benefits and probabilities of success;
    * all available alternatives, including less invasive options and the option of refusing treatment entirely;
    * any financial, institutional, professional, governmental, pharmaceutical, or personal conflicts of interest;
    * all information that a reasonable person in the patient’s position would consider material to the exercise of free and informed choice.
    The withholding, suppression, manipulation, distortion, or misrepresentation of material information constitutes a grave breach of fiduciary duty and may vitiate any purported consent ab initio.
    2. Capacity and Competency
    A patient must possess the mental capacity and competency necessary to understand, retain, weigh, and evaluate the information presented in order to exercise autonomous decision-making. Healthcare providers carry a fiduciary obligation to ensure that no consent is obtained through confusion, intimidation, sedation, coercion, deception, undue influence, manipulation, or exploitation of vulnerability.
    Where a person lacks lawful decision-making capacity, any substitute decision-maker, guardian, trustee, attorney, or representative must act strictly in the best interests of the beneficiary and remains bound by fiduciary duties of utmost good faith, honesty, loyalty, and avoidance of conflicts of interest.
    3. Voluntary and Uncoerced Consent
    Consent must be given freely, voluntarily, knowingly, and without duress, intimidation, threats, force, coercion, manipulation, institutional pressure, psychological influence, abuse of authority, or improper inducement.
    Any purported consent extracted through fear, detention, deception, misrepresentation, abuse of power, exploitation of dependency, or misuse of statutory authority is fundamentally defective and may be deemed unlawful, void, and of no legal effect.
    The fiduciary relationship between healthcare providers and patients imposes a heightened duty upon practitioners to protect, rather than override, the autonomy, dignity, liberty, and lawful wishes of the patient.
    4. Documentation and Evidentiary Accountability
    Healthcare providers and institutions are under a strict fiduciary and evidentiary duty to accurately document the entirety of the informed consent process. Such documentation must demonstrate:
    * that all material information was fully disclosed;
    * that the patient possessed lawful capacity;
    * that all questions were answered honestly and completely;
    * that consent was obtained voluntarily and without coercion;
    * that the patient understood the consequences of accepting or refusing treatment.
    Written consent forms do not, in themselves, constitute lawful informed consent where disclosure obligations and fiduciary duties have not been properly fulfilled.
    5. Emergency Exceptions
    In genuine emergencies where immediate intervention is strictly necessary to preserve life or prevent imminent and serious harm, treatment may proceed without prior express consent only to the minimum extent reasonably necessary under the circumstances.
    However, even in emergency situations, healthcare providers remain under continuing fiduciary obligations to act proportionately, honestly, reasonably, and in the least restrictive manner possible, while communicating all relevant information to the patient or their lawful representative at the earliest practicable opportunity.
    6. Fiduciary Accountability and Liability
    All healthcare practitioners, hospitals, tribunals, agencies, departments, and public authorities exercising power over vulnerable persons remain accountable under principles of fiduciary law, trust law, equity, natural justice, and human rights obligations.
    Any abuse of medical authority, deprivation of informed consent, unlawful detention, forced treatment, concealment of material information, or interference with bodily autonomy may give rise to liability for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, negligence, assault, battery, false imprisonment, unconscionable conduct, and other equitable and legal remedies.
    The patient is not the servant of the institution. The institution is the fiduciary servant of the patient, and all powers exercised in healthcare must be exercised strictly in honour, conscience, good faith, and lawful protection of the beneficiary’s rights, dignity, liberty, and bodily sovereignty.

  14. Data centres depends on enormous amount of water for the process of cooling and hydration.

  15. The articles quotes Mr Funnell – “… This is a violation of everyone’s property rights and the erosion of common law rights that are the basis of the Westminster system which is being attacked by this legislation…”
    .
    BS.
    .
    “Law” is only “law” if you have the means and the will to ENFORCE it.
    .
    Where’s YOUR enforcement?
    .
    THEY have literal CORPORATE ARMIES of ruthless utterly remorseless gun-toting Australia-hating shit-for-brains Granny-bashing child-molesting pig-raping mass-murdering hired mercenary thugs, what have YOU got?
    .
    Crickets.

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