NT: Bailiff seizes land council s fleet of vehicles

AAP General News (Australia)
02-10-2000
NT: Bailiff seizes land council s fleet of vehicles

By Catharine Munro

DARWIN, Feb 10 AAP - A Darwin bailiff today surprised the Northern Land Council by
seizing its fleet of 15 vehicles on behalf of an unfairly dismissed employee who had not
been paid $230,000 in damages.

Bailiff Mike Connor, acting on instructions from sacked worker Peter Hansen, issued
the NLC a warrant for the 13 four-wheel drives and two station wagons, parked in a car
park beside the NLC's headquarters in Darwin.

Mr Hansen said he wanted to recover the remaining $230,000 of $295,000 damages awarded
to him by the Supreme Court in December. The NLC paid Mr Hansen $65,000 in January.

Mr Connor gave the NLC's lawyers two hours to respond to the warrant, putting stickers
on the vehicles early this morning. He later extended the period of grace until tomorrow
as NLC lawyers sought urgent court action.

An NLC worker locked the car park where the cars were kept.

NLC spokeswoman Edna Barolits said the council would appeal to the High Court to have
the unfair dismissal overturned, having failed in the Supreme Court last month.

However, if that application failed, the NLC would pay the damages.

"We really need those cars," she told reporters.

She said the damages payment would have a significant impact on the NLC's budget and
could result in delays in native title applications.

The NLC is responsible for preparing land claims for Aboriginal people in the top end
of the Northern Territory.

Mr Hansen was hired in 1992 as a senior adviser at the land council but was sacked
by then-director Mick Dodson after working there for three months.

In the unfair dismissal case, Mr Hansen alleged he was sacked because he had called
for an auditor to examine the NLC's accounting procedure ahead of a federal election.

He repeated that allegation today, adding: "I was sacked without notice, on bogus grounds."

During the unfair dismissal case, Mr Dodson claimed he sacked Mr Hansen because he
had undermined him in the media and during talks with the federal government.

AAP cm/apm/br

KEYWORD: HANSEN NIGHTLEAD

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