In the recent decision of Petersen v Ipswich City
Council [2016] QDC 7, Bradley DCJ found that there was no case
to answer and set aside the conviction of the Appellant, who was
alleged to have enabled her election signs to be placed on an
Ipswich City Council local government area without the necessary
licence.
Facts
An appeal was brought before the District Court by Patricia
Petersen who had been convicted of three charges relating to the
placement of election signage within an Ipswich City Council local
government area without a licence, in contravention of section 5 of
Ipswich City Council Local Law No. 3 (Commercial Licensing)
2013. At the time, the Appellant was leader of the Australian
Independents and a candidate for Senate in the 2013 Commonwealth
elections. Although it was determined that the Appellant had not
placed the signs herself, the matter before the Court was whether,
per section 7 Criminal Code (QLD), it could be shown she
had "enabled" the
