Kojonup sheep farmer ‘gobsmacked' by revoked gun licence ruling by State Administrative Tribunal
Simon Matthews was fined and convicted of common assault in the Katanning Magistrates Court in 2024 for his involvement in a brawl at Lake Towerinning.
As a result of the conviction, the WA Police Commissioner revoked the 41-year-old's firearm licence under the Firearms Act, citing the conviction as a basis for deeming Mr Matthews no longer a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
Mr Matthews surrendered his four firearms to police last year and said he had been struggling with his day-to-day duties as a farmer and stock driver since.
'I can't fulfil my duty of care with my livestock — that's the biggest impact — and controlling vermin and all the rest of it,' he said.
In his evidence to the SAT, Mr Matthews claimed he was never provided the summons notice for the assault.
He said it was instead delivered to his partner's workplace, meaning he consequently missed the court hearing.
He was convicted under section 55 of the Criminal Procedure Act and fined $800.
Mr Matthews said if he received the summons he would have appeared at court and fought the charge.
The brawl at Lake Towerinning occurred on Australia Day, 2023, after Mr Matthews was involved in an altercation with a woman and her partner after developing the belief their family member had taken alcohol from his car.
Mr Matthews farms primarily sheep, as well as goats, cows, and pigs, on his 400ha family farm Silver City in Kojonup, and transports livestock.
Mr Matthews said the revocation of his licence meant he could not adequately put livestock down when needed, and instead had to find another person or vet with a licence.
'Trying to destroy livestock; well hitting them on the head with a hammer — that's olden day stuff, it's not right,' he said.
'When you've got your own tools you can go and do your job straight away, but if you don't have the right tools to do the job with, it can affect you because you've got to go and find someone with a gun.
'Sometimes you can't just cut a sheep's throat, you've got to get it done professionally, and the vets aren't always open.'
He said he appealed the Commissioner's decision to the SAT in the hopes he would get his licence back, and would appeal the SAT's decision in a further bid to regain his firearms licence.
SAT member Nova Oldfield upheld the Commissioner's decision that Mr Matthews was not a 'fit and proper' person to hold a firearms licence on the basis of the violence of the assault and the 'relatively short time' since the assault had occurred.
Ms Oldfield additionally found that Mr Matthews considered himself a victim and remained 'resentful if not angry', showing no remorse or insight into his behaviour.
Mr Matthews said his farming duties had been 'impacted severely' by the loss of his guns.
'We've got more work on fixing fences from kangaroos, and that's another cost,' he said.
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