2017/22: Katter's Australia Party's Safer Waterways Bill, 2017: should crocodiles be culled in northern Queensland?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: On October 12, 2017, the suspected death of a 79-year-old woman due to a crocodile attack prompted a renewed call from the Katter Australian Party for a crocodile cull.What they said...
'Once we were able to even fish beside our waterways, that is now a risk. So we really need to make a decision on whether we're going to look after the interests and safety of people, or back the crocodiles'
Katter's Australia Party (KAP) Queensland Member of Parliament, Shane Knuth
'No one touches Cairns crocodiles, because that's our story animal - our totem. We don't want crocodiles in Cairns touched, because they're not really an issue'
Sarah Addo, a representative of the Kunggandji Kimuy People
The issue at a glance
On October 29, 2017, the Queensland premier called upon the acting state Governor seeking a Proclamation from her to dissolve the Queensland Parliament in the lead-up to the state election. All Bills not yet passed by the Parliament therefore lapsed and are to be reintroduced and debated in 2018.
One of these Bills is the Katter's Australia Party's (KAP) Safer Waterways Bill, 2017, which was introduced to the Parliament on May 25, 2017.
The Safer Waterways Bill, if enacted, would make it mandatory for 'rogue' crocodiles to be removed from Queensland's populated waterways. It would also greatly expand the capacity of landholders to remove or kill crocodiles on their properties. Once granted authorisation to reduce crocodile numbers on their land, whether by relocation or killing, the extent of the removal would be at the landholder's discretion.
A summary of the Bill states, ' The Bill places greater value on human life, than on that of crocodiles, and seeks to responsibly reduce the risk of crocodile attack as much as possible.'
The summary also includes the statement, 'Ultimately, people who live in North Queensland are best placed to manage crocodiles.'
Even prior to its debate, the Bill appears unlikely to gain the support of the state Government. Katter has indicated that he would seek to have independents and members of his party in the Queensland Parliament block budget Bills and deny the state Government supply if it does not support his party's Bill.
The KAP Bill has met with opposition from conservation groups whose members consider it extreme and ill-informed. Crocodile expert Terri Irwin has cast doubt on Katter's knowledge of the bush, stating, 'I've never run into him at Cape York but I have run into him at a couple of airport lounges and he has the cleanest hat I've ever seen for a bloke who claims to be from the bush...'