Cairns Courts: Yidindji Sovereign Nation citizen Wayne Matthew Starr says Qld police have no power
Self-proclaimed citizens of the Yidindji Sovereign Nation insist they are outside Queensland law although their argument the state has no power over the Yidindji Tribe has been thrown out of court multiple times.
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Self-proclaimed citizens of the Yidindji Sovereign Nation insist they are outside Queensland law although their argument the state has no power over the Yidindji Tribe has been thrown out of court multiple times.
Jeremy Geia is known as Murrumu Walubara and was the founder of the Sovereign Yidindji Nation – a vast chunk of land stretching from Port Douglas to the Atherton Tablelands and all of Cairns – claiming in 2014 to renounce his legal ties with Australia.
The latest case to take an entire day in Mareeba Magistrates Court was that of Wayne Matthew Starr – who told the court he wanted to be known as Wayne Matthew Balbara, the self-described detective chief superintendent of Yidindji police.
Representing himself, Starr said he was a member of the Yidindji Sovereign Nation and he cross-examined arresting officers on whether they were aware there was “a coexisting authority”.
He contested charges that he altered or defaced an identification plate, drove an uninsured vehicle, drove without a licence, had things that purport to be, but were not, registration certificates, number plates or permits, unregistered vehicle, impersonating a police officer, and unlawful possession of an article resembling a licence.
Starr – who denied to police that was his name – said he was a citizen of the Yidindji Sovereign Nation so Queensland law didn’t apply to him.
Magistrate Thomas Braes said evidence showed no valid drivers’ licence issued to Wayne Starr, the Nissan Patrol he was driving was not registered in Queensland and no vehicle with the number plate YID-800 had ever been registered.
Mr Braes said the transcript of the police interview with Starr corroborated their evidence given in court.
The court heard Starr told police he was the chief superintendent, they had no authority and they should contact the Queensland Police Commissioner.
Mr Braes found Starr guilty on all charges except altering or defacing a number plate because there was no evidence he did it; Starr had told the court it was issued by the Yidindji Department of Transport.
Mr Braes did not record convictions, fined Starr $2000 for driving uninsured and made a suspended operational order of 100 hours community service.
He cited a Supreme Court appeal against a conviction of Daniel Jordan Anning, charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle – the hospital doctor’s work transport – in Normanton.
Anning, who told police his name was Derek Jordan Bong, argued the Yidindji Tribe was not subject to Queensland Law.
“No legal jurisdiction other than Yidindji Tribal Council of Elders Court will be recognised or understood,” Anning stated in a 20-page document that judges noted appeared to be a “random cutting and pasting from other documents that have nothing to do with this appeal”.
The appeal was tossed out and Anning’s conviction was upheld.
A few years ago, Malanda woman Nerissa Margarete Anderson, who was fined $100 for failure to vote, called herself Nerissa of the Ngadjob Tribe and appealed on the basis she was not an Australian citizen, the court had no jurisdiction, and it was ethnic cleansing.
The court heard she had enrolled herself as an elector and ticked yes to the question ‘are you an Australian citizen’.
Her appeal was dismissed.
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Originally published as Cairns Courts: Yidindji Sovereign Nation citizen Wayne Matthew Starr says Qld police have no power
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