By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
UPDATE: Springvale refugee Vu Ho faces a $200,000-plus legal bill after losing his Court of Appeal battle against Greater Dandenong Council to keep his pet sheep Baa at home.
Mr Ho was seeking the court to overturn last year’s unsuccessful Supreme Court action against the council, which fined him $225 and ordered him to remove the sheep.
Three judges of the court unanimously dismissed Mr Ho’s appeal this afternoon, awarding costs against him as well as about $168,000 costs from the original Supreme Court trial.
Mr Ho had argued he shouldn’t pay the council’s costs on the grounds of defending democracy. President of the court Justice Chris Maxwell said the case didn’t fit the category of public-interest litigation to absolve Mr Ho from the council’s costs.
Outside the court, Mr Ho didn’t rule out appealing today’s decision to the High Court and was confident he could win.
“I risked my life to get here [to Australia] so it’s nothing to lose money.”
Mr Ho unsuccessfully argued the council didn’t have power to make laws about domestic animals, such as his 16-year-old sheep Baa, and that there was a conflict between the state’s domestic animal and wildlife laws and the council’s planning scheme.
His 116-page submission had won praise for its clarity and comprehensiveness from Justice Maxwell at Tuesday’s hearing.
“It’s extremely well presented, clear and comprehensive,’’ Justice Maxwell said at the time. “I haven’t seen such well directed research by an unrepresented litigant … for some time.’’
Legally untrained and unconfident in written and spoken English, Mr Ho was accompanied by son Nghia and unrepresented by lawyers.
The former Vietnamese journalist and now mechanic had taken a year off to research the case.
In the past year, he had failed to enlist Victorian Legal Aid, pro-bono legal aid group Promoting Law in the Public Interest and the State Ombudsman’s office to support his cause.
Mr Ho said he’d ‘‘fight to the end’’ to prevent the council from taking away his 16-year-old sheep, which according to the council’s local laws is not permitted to be kept in less than half-a-hectare.
Greater Dandenong mayor Angela Long said ratepayers should not bear the cost of responding to an ‘‘entirely unnecessary and unwarranted’’ court matter.
‘‘For this reason [the] council sought to have Mr Ho pay the court costs.
“It is Mr Ho who has chosen to take Greater Dandenong City Council to court when he has always been made aware there were other reasonable and far cheaper options available to him.’’
She said the council had offered on ‘‘numerous’’ occasions to find a ‘‘suitable location’’ for Baa and suggested other actions that ‘‘would not place Mr Ho’s future in such financial jeopardy’’.
The council’s local laws were ‘‘nothing out of the ordinary’’ and had to be applied uniformly to be effective.
‘‘The law is in place to ensure livestock – such as sheep, goats and cattle – have sufficient space to graze, breed and live in an environment that is appropriate and natural for their species.”
