Mr MITCHELL - 1994-10-06
I understand that the contract to catch problem crocodiles in Darwin Harbour has just been renewed by the Conservation Commission. I have been told that, in the first year of the recently-completed contract, the contractors removed 210 problem crocodiles from Darwin Harbour. Can the minister inform the Assembly what the Conservation Commission is doing to improve community awareness given the impending crocodile mating season, a time when crocodiles are on the move?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Certainly we have problems with the advent of the wet season, particularly during October and November. That is the mating season for crocodiles when males travel looking for females to breed with.
Mr Perron: What is new?
Mr COULTER: They do it much more regularly between October and November.
Mr Perron: More regularly than who?
Mr COULTER: More regularly than do many other species. They are on the loose and the increased danger at that time has to be placed clearly before people. We have advertisements on the cinema screens in Darwin indicating the problems with crocodiles. Yesterday, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries issued a guide. Members may recall that, during the last parliament, I said that people should check their shower recess before they enter it because of the problems with crocodiles. I spoke also about Shady Camp, saying that I believed that somebody would be taken by a crocodile there in the very near future. In fact, the front cover of the guide issued yesterday by he Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries carries a photo of the barrage at Shady Camp to which I referred. It shows people standing on the barrage. At night, people enter the water and fish from that particular barrage. This photograph is an excellent example of what not to do, particularly at Shady Camp.
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The guide contains an excellent article about the problems with crocodiles. It is entitled, Don't Become the Bait, and it is at page 13 of the guide. It is a timely reminder and an excellent way of putting across the message that people should not do this type of thing very often.
Members interjecting.
Mr COULTER: Members of this House said that I was an alarmist. Some of the media checked with people such as Alex Julius and members of Amateur Fishermen's Association. One lady said: 'It is nothing to be out on the barrage at night fishing in crocodile-infested waters. The other day, I saw some people holding a 9-month-old baby by the arms and swinging it through the water to cool it'. That is another practice that I suggest that people avoid. I suggest that they do not take a young baby anywhere near the water at Shady Camp because the area is infested with crocodiles. I am seriously concerned about people in that area.
On previous occasions, I have spoken about the signs that we have erected in popular areas, in particular the depiction of a crocodile jaw in a red circle with a line across it. The Tourist Commission and the Conservation Commission have photographs of instances where those signs have been used by tourists as towel racks. They have actually placed their towels over those signs and proceeded into the water. I do not know what more we can do to put this message across, particularly in October and November.
Graham Robinson Crocodile Contractors has had its contract extended. It was looking for a 3.5 m crocodile that had been spotted near Cullen Bay. Yesterday, a 3.3 m crocodile was trapped. In the old measurement, that animal was around 11 ft in length. That saltwater crocodile was in West Arm, but the interesting point is that the contractors believe that it was the crocodile that had been in Cullen Bay. That gives members an idea of how far they can and will travel. For those members who are not familiar with area, West Arm is out towards the Berry Springs area near the mouth of the Blackmore River. That is the kind of distance that crocodiles can travel. Saltwater crocodiles can be found up to 300 km inland. That indicates clearly that we have a problem. Conservation Commission rangers removed a 1.2 m croc from Vestey's Lake at Fannie Bay. We believe it came in on a very high tide through a small creek that runs into the lake.
During the first year of the contract, Graham Robinson removed 200 crocs from Darwin Harbour. The majority of these animals were in Shoal Bay which runs from Buffalo Creek to Tree Point, just past the mouth of the Howard River. Because the Conservation Commission places its traps strategically, they are able to head off many of the crocs before they access the harbour. However, more than 200 managed to escape early detection and were caught in Darwin Harbour. Given that the animals need to swim past the Casuarina Coastal Reserve, which attracts about 200 000 visitors a year, to make it into the harbour, we need to press this matter. That is what we are trying to do in our awareness campaigns in the cinemas etc. I ask all honourable members to avail themselves of crocodile information for their electorate offices. We all need to pass on the message that they are a problem. We have to learn to live with these animals, but behaviour such as fishing off the barrage at Shady Camp in the middle of the night is not the way to go.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Certainly we have problems with the advent of the wet season, particularly during October and November. That is the mating season for crocodiles when males travel looking for females to breed with.
Mr Perron: What is new?
Mr COULTER: They do it much more regularly between October and November.
Mr Perron: More regularly than who?
Mr COULTER: More regularly than do many other species. They are on the loose and the increased danger at that time has to be placed clearly before people. We have advertisements on the cinema screens in Darwin indicating the problems with crocodiles. Yesterday, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries issued a guide. Members may recall that, during the last parliament, I said that people should check their shower recess before they enter it because of the problems with crocodiles. I spoke also about Shady Camp, saying that I believed that somebody would be taken by a crocodile there in the very near future. In fact, the front cover of the guide issued yesterday by he Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries carries a photo of the barrage at Shady Camp to which I referred. It shows people standing on the barrage. At night, people enter the water and fish from that particular barrage. This photograph is an excellent example of what not to do, particularly at Shady Camp.
Page 194
The guide contains an excellent article about the problems with crocodiles. It is entitled, Don't Become the Bait, and it is at page 13 of the guide. It is a timely reminder and an excellent way of putting across the message that people should not do this type of thing very often.
Members interjecting.
Mr COULTER: Members of this House said that I was an alarmist. Some of the media checked with people such as Alex Julius and members of Amateur Fishermen's Association. One lady said: 'It is nothing to be out on the barrage at night fishing in crocodile-infested waters. The other day, I saw some people holding a 9-month-old baby by the arms and swinging it through the water to cool it'. That is another practice that I suggest that people avoid. I suggest that they do not take a young baby anywhere near the water at Shady Camp because the area is infested with crocodiles. I am seriously concerned about people in that area.
On previous occasions, I have spoken about the signs that we have erected in popular areas, in particular the depiction of a crocodile jaw in a red circle with a line across it. The Tourist Commission and the Conservation Commission have photographs of instances where those signs have been used by tourists as towel racks. They have actually placed their towels over those signs and proceeded into the water. I do not know what more we can do to put this message across, particularly in October and November.
Graham Robinson Crocodile Contractors has had its contract extended. It was looking for a 3.5 m crocodile that had been spotted near Cullen Bay. Yesterday, a 3.3 m crocodile was trapped. In the old measurement, that animal was around 11 ft in length. That saltwater crocodile was in West Arm, but the interesting point is that the contractors believe that it was the crocodile that had been in Cullen Bay. That gives members an idea of how far they can and will travel. For those members who are not familiar with area, West Arm is out towards the Berry Springs area near the mouth of the Blackmore River. That is the kind of distance that crocodiles can travel. Saltwater crocodiles can be found up to 300 km inland. That indicates clearly that we have a problem. Conservation Commission rangers removed a 1.2 m croc from Vestey's Lake at Fannie Bay. We believe it came in on a very high tide through a small creek that runs into the lake.
During the first year of the contract, Graham Robinson removed 200 crocs from Darwin Harbour. The majority of these animals were in Shoal Bay which runs from Buffalo Creek to Tree Point, just past the mouth of the Howard River. Because the Conservation Commission places its traps strategically, they are able to head off many of the crocs before they access the harbour. However, more than 200 managed to escape early detection and were caught in Darwin Harbour. Given that the animals need to swim past the Casuarina Coastal Reserve, which attracts about 200 000 visitors a year, to make it into the harbour, we need to press this matter. That is what we are trying to do in our awareness campaigns in the cinemas etc. I ask all honourable members to avail themselves of crocodile information for their electorate offices. We all need to pass on the message that they are a problem. We have to learn to live with these animals, but behaviour such as fishing off the barrage at Shady Camp in the middle of the night is not the way to go.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016