MELBOURNE lawyer Charles Slidders is taking legal action on behalf of farmers against the Victorian Government over losses from the 2003 and Grampians fires.
Slidders Lawyers lodged a writ on Christmas Eve accusing the Government, Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria of negligence in failing to properly maintain Crown land and of allowing the fires to escape on to private property.
The writ follows a threat made by Mr Slidders in The Weekly Times in early 2007, that he would take legal action if the Government failed to compensate farmers.
At the time, Mr Slidders said he had written to the State Government calling on it to calculate and offer compensation to farmers for losses incurred in the fires.
Mr Slidders said a Royal Commission was a far cheaper option than legal action.
However, no commission was formed or compensation paid.
Since then, Slidders Lawyers have been advertising for farmers to join a class action in the Victorian Farmers Federation's publication Victorian Farmer.
VFF president Simon Ramsay said the peak farm body was not involved in the legal action.
"It's up to individuals, if they want to get involved," Mr Ramsay said.
"It's a long shot. It'll be expensive and drawn out."
Slidders' writ follows the failure of an earlier attempt by the Stretton Group to seek compensation on behalf of farmers whose land was devastated by the 2003 fires.
The Stretton Group, comprising mainly fire and land management experts and farmers, began a statement of claim against government agencies in 2004, alleging they were liable for the size and severity of the fires.
The group did not take legal action, but did pass its statement of claim on to Slidders.
However, Stretton Group member Simon Paton said he knew little about the Slidders writ.
Daniel Oldham, a partner at Slidders Lawyers, told media last week the case was in its infancy.
The Government has repeatedly denied there is a valid legal claim in regard to compensation for the impact of bushfires.
