The very first court case where Barrister Phillip Sheridan was associated with Property Rights Australia (PRA) was the case against Ashley and Doris McKay. Those cases brought together Phil, whose attention to detail is evident from the transcripts and Ashley, who is also recognised by his colleagues as a stickler for detail. A perfect match.

Phil’s connection began in the very early days of PRA which was formed in response to the Vegetation Management Act. The VMA was described by Professor Suri Ratnapala, Professor of Public Law, UQ as an Act that, “comprehensively defeats the values of constitutional government, in particular the rule of law, democratic principle and the basic requirements of natural justice.”

In a series of court cases to which PRA gave support to overwhelmed landowners, Phil successfully acted as the barrister resolutely standing in court against the full resources of the State in vegetation management prosecutions. It must be remembered that for every court win many others benefited with departmental officers dropping investigations and prosecution.

It is a long read through all the court cases that Phil Sheridan was involved in, but they have an aura of spinning a web before striking. Part of the web spinning was to inform the Magistrates as well, most of whom had never had similar cases.

One, Magistrate Sheryl Kornack, who would now be retired, was so disgusted by the legislation that she said on more than one occasion that it should be cancelled.

Phil just kept picking at the threads of the legislation and inaccuracies of the prosecution, until the cases fell apart.

Maps used by the state were meant to be certified but they were often inaccurate, dated over unacceptable time frames, showed that changes had been made to vegetation status, inadequately labelled, not certified as required by legislation, or were unattached to relevant reports presented in court. Phil was a master at exposing these inconsistencies.

All participants were well aware that the State was anything but a model litigant. They gamed the system with dates and using updated satellite maps when early defendants had had to rely on hand drawn maps.

Sometimes this spilled over into departmental officers performing illegal acts such as altering maps in order to make it look as if illegal clearing and a shed were built on a road reserve. This was done with the express purpose of obtaining a court order, or restoration notice, to have the shed removed. This would have been a huge impost on a grain farmer. Phil obtained the email chain of back and forth correspondence between departmental officers which clearly showed their intent. (Withyman v Simpson)

For Phil the people he represented were not just clients; he had full empathy for the situation where they were subjected to unfair legislation that was administered appallingly. In court Phil was determined and tenacious, which earned him the nickname from his bush connections of “Pig Dog”.  But most of all Phil was a people person and loved a beer and a joke.

Inaugural PRA chair Dominic Devine in remembering working alongside Phil fighting the good fights, “Our grazing and farming industries of Qld owe you so much gratitude.”

The late John Purcell who succeeded Dominic was impressed with Phil’s determination and attention to detail, often stated that, “Phil was 10x smarter than any legal expert the government would put him up against.”

Ron Bahnisch who was the PRA chair for the final court cases in the PRA/ Sheridan partnership, “Against a government that was everything but a model litigant; Phil Sheridan was the cutting edge of the law in all of these cases.”

The fabric of PRA would be entirely different if it had not been for Phillip Sheridan.

Phillip Sheridan

Barrister-at-Law B App Sci (Ag), Dip Ed, MBA (Ag), JD

Phillip grew up on a mixed farm at Wellington, in central NSW.  Phillip studied for a degree in agricultural science at Wagga Ag College. During this period Phillip drove stock trucks.

After graduation in 1992 he moved to the NT and was firstly pastoral officer, based in Alice Springs, then principal pastoral officer based in Darwin, for the NT Department of Lands.  In 1999 he completed an MBA in Agribusiness Management from the University of New England.

Phillip was admitted to the Queensland Bar in 2003 and established a reputation for being a leading barrister practices in agribusiness, property and environmental law.  He has appeared for a number of PRA members in tree clearing and various property matters including acquisition compensation and water licence appeals.

In 2011 he commenced as Principal of Palmer, Stevens and Rennick, a Victorian country law firm that has been operating continuously since 1848. He continued to practice in Queensland in environmental matters and acted for native title groups in respect of oil and gas compensation matters.

Phillip never forgot where he came from and his life before the law. He loved getting out in the paddock and getting his hands dirty.

He retired in 2024 and moved to Hervey Bay. Phillip at the time of his sudden passing was 62.

• Joanne Rea and Dale Stiller are both former chairs of Property Rights Australia.