He had been prevented from clearing "native vegetation" from his sheep farm in New South Wales and he said that this had caused severe financial difficulty.
[2] However, Spencer's family later stated: "Native vegetation laws enacted over 10 years ago by State Governments (and certainly not the ETS proposals and "Carbon Sinks" which are a far more recent development) are not the sole reason for the collapse of Peter's farm, and really have had a very small part to play.
Peter spent several years in Papua New Guinea on various business ventures, including an advisory role to the PNG government of the time.
[5] However, he was granted the right to appeal to the High Court to decide if he should be compensated by the Commonwealth for the property having been declared a carbon sink.
[6] Despite claims of being a Christian man, Peter has been shown to have a lack of filter when it comes to commenting on political, personal and other points of interest.