Human Headline takes on turtle, dugong kill

DERRYN Hinch will make his first official trip as a senator to Far North Queensland later this month to help bring a halt to the traditional slaughter of dugongs and sea turtles.

The Justice Party leader has accepted an invitation from Cairns wildlife campaigner Colin “The Dugong Man” Riddell to travel north to help lobby for a moratorium on the hunting of the protected species in Australian waters.

It comes as the state opposition has called on state and federal governments to start recording the number of turtles and dugongs killed in Queensland by traditional owners to ensure the level of slaughter is sustainable.

The Cairns Post reported yesterday that neither the state nor federal governments have been keeping records of how many turtles and dugongs are being killed in the wild by traditional hunters.

Senator Hinch, a former TV and radio journalist, has previously flagged support for a “100 per cent ban”.

His spokeswoman confirmed to the Cairns Post that he would be visiting Cairns from November 29-31.

Mr Riddell, who has campaigned for a total ban on the killing of dugongs and turtles for about a decade, said starting to record numbers of animals being slaughtered would be a good start.

“We’ve got to ban it completely, but we need to know how many they’re killing,” he said. “Any step is a good step, because the simple fact is there is no process at all.”

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority works closely with indigenous communities along the Reef coastline to put in place Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements to help achieve sustainable levels of take.

ANY STEP IS A GOOD STEP, BECAUSE THE SIMPLE FACT IS THERE IS NO PROCESS AT ALL