THE ruler of the Hutt River Province has been ordered by WA’s Supreme Court to pay the princely sum of more than $3 million in unpaid taxes to the Australian Tax Office.

In a writ filed in the WA Supreme Court late last year, the tax office alleged that Leonard George Casley, who calls himself His Royal Highness Prince Leonard, failed to pay income tax between June 2006 and November 2013 — a period spanning eight financial years.

A similar but smaller claim was made against Leonard’s son Arthur, who is known as Prince Wayne.

The ATO sued the 91-year-old former monarch – who abdicated earlier this year - to recover the alleged multimillion-dollar debt, which the original writ claimed was made up of $1.47 million in unpaid income tax and running balance account debt, $756,000 in penalties and $415,000 in interest.

Today, Justice Rene Le Miere ruled that despite letters from the ATO dating back to 2005 which declared he and his late wife Princess Shirley “non-residents” of Australia for tax purposes, the Hutt River province owed the taxman a total of $3,012,846 plus interest and legal costs.

The Casley’s were on a phone link to the court to hear the judgment.

Prince Leonard instigated the “secession” of the micro-nation from Australia in 1970 in protest against the low wheat production quotas being imposed by the WA government.

For the 46 years he has continued his fight against the establishment.

The property near Northampton has its own postage stamps, currency and its own visa requirements. It attracts thousands of local and international tourists annually.

The Queen wrote to Prince Leonard this year conveying her good wishes for the celebrations marking the Province’s 46th anniversary. She was replying to his letter congratulating her on her 90th birthday.

And after the tax demand was made public, Prince Leonard said the writ had no merit because in his view, the Principality of Hutt River - a farming property that attracts between 30,000 and 40,000 global tourists a year – was a legitimately separate sovereign state with its own constitution.

An ATO spokeswoman would not comment on the case at the time but did point to a 2007 decision by the High Court of Australia that concluded the argument Hutt River was not part of Australia was “fatuous, frivolous and vexatious”.

Their legal representatives said nothing as they left court today.

In his judgement, Justice Le Miere said that the Casley's argument of secession and independence "has no legal merit or substance".

"Anyone can declare themselves a sovereign in their own home but they cannot ignore the laws of Australia or not pay tax," he said

Justice Le Miere also dismissed arguments by the Casleys he described as "strange pseudo-legal straw man theory".

"The idea is that an individual's debts, liabilities, taxes and legal responsibilities belong to the straw man rather than the physical individual who incurred those obligations, conveniently allowing one to escape their debts and responsibilities," Justice Le Miere said.

"It is all gobbledygook."