FOR DAM PROJECT
a fire they made themselves. It is where they learnt to fend for themselves and become self-reliant. Above all this it is where they learnt to love and respect the natural environment. These huts and where they stand are part of them. It is their own sacred ground. Tear them down and you tear down a way of life.
Sentimental as these words may be, they don’t look like bringing a tear to the eye of a collective government wanting to change a way of life. Open these wonderful areas up to public camping by all means. But, Mr Government Minister, can’t the huts coexist with public camping facilities? No, not by the response I received from the Department of Environment and Science this week. (I have made some slight changes to save space).
“There are 14 structures located on State land, national park and watercourses in and around Palm Creek, Orient Creek and Crystal Creek near Ingham.
“The Government is committed to expanding Queensland’s protected areas for the benefit of all Queenslanders, and these structures are inconsistent with the natural and cultural values of this land. There are six unauthorised huts situated on Halifax Bay Wetlands National
Park, and a further eight huts in the vicinity at Halifax Bay on other State controlled land.
“The huts were built without permission and provide exclusive private use, meaning they restrict free access and enjoyment of the general public.
“In early April, DES and the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy gave users of these structures 28 days to demonstrate why they should be able to keep them. Users of these structures also met with departmental representatives on 30 April to further discuss their submissions. After consideration of their submissions, the Government advised all the users in writing in mid-june that they had until 30 September 2019 or a mutually agreed date in 2019 to remove the structures.
“National parks are for the benefit of all members of the public and these structures do not provide an equitable opportunity for everyone to enjoy this area.
“DES is investigating opportunities to develop and maintain public fishing and camping facilities in this area for the benefit of all Queenslanders.”
Croc icon still rules
BISMARCK lives? Townsville’s David “Scoop” Hooper lives at Ravenshoe these days up on the Tableland but spends time at his beachfront home at Cardwell.
He sees a crocodile there that he swears is Bismarck. He reckons the croc found dead in Meunga Creek earlier this year ( pictured right) wasn’t Bismarck. Scoop told me this week that he and wife Linda were sitting on their deck overlooking the ocean last week when not one, not two, but three crocodiles cruised past. Must have been peak hour.
In other croc news, rangers asked swimmers to leave the water at Magnetic Island’s West Point last week. There are concerns of crocs in the area. This reminds me. You may be aware West Point residents and other Maggie Island residents are fed up with backpackers who camp at West Point, leaving behind rubbish that has to be collected by these same locals. One resident is planning a trip to Paris next year just so she can “crap, pee and leave rubbish including tampons at the base of the Eiffel Tower”.
Doggone. There’s the ripper yarn about the bloke at Cardwell who was videoing a croc cooling off in shallow water just off the beach. Two dogs wandered down and started playing right in front of the cunning saurian. The bloke stopped videoing and raced down, shouting at the dogs in order to frighten them away from the croc zone. Instead, one of the dogs showed its appreciation by charging at him in attack. The bloke went on the offensive with an umbrella he was carrying and chased both dogs back down the beach towards the croc. The croc was no dummy. It estimated latitude and longitude and the angle of the dangle before bursting from the water and snatching one of the dogs, which it carried out into the deep blue. The bloke got the whole lot on video.
Well, that’s the last time that dog will attack someone who was only trying to help.
Scoop had other news. He turned 75 a few weeks ago and in celebration of the milestone birthday he and Linda took a trip to the
Torres Strait, part of which included a helicopter ride from Thursday Island to the “Tip” of Cape York Peninsula. During the chopper ride the pilot informed that he had flown flame-haired Senator Pauline Hanson around the Torres Strait.
Scoop was recovering from surgery when on the trip and struggled to walk the 350m along a steep and rugged track between the “Tip” and the helicopter landing spot. The pilot, as it turned out, was taking Senator Hanson to the same spot the next day. He told Scoop she was aware of the rugged nature of the track and the problems it posed to visitors. To have something done she met with the Northern
Peninsula Area Regional Council and is now in the process of securing government funding to build a safe and less arduous track. People have to be medevaced out of here after falling and hurting themselves, at great cost to taxpayers. Once, Cape York Peninsula was an adventurer’s playground. Now, with better roads and more restricted areas, is it a case of paradise lost? More next week.