E&OE….
Topics: Increased turtle and dugong protection
JOHN MACKENZIE:
This is a very special moment actually because this has been a matter across quite some years, since I remember like yesterday Steve coming to me and talking to me about, well, the water out at Green Island boiling red with blood after the slaughter of these animals that people had travelled from the other side of the world to look at and enjoy in their natural environment.
It horrified me. It horrified the listeners next day when I talked about it on air. So I’m going to introduce Steve into this conversation because he deserves to be part of this discussion.
Greg Hunt is on the line, the Federal Minister for the Environment. Greg, good morning.
GREG HUNT:
Good morning, John.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
And Steve Davies on another line there. G’day, Steve.
STEVE DAVIES:
Yeah, good morning, John. Good morning, Greg.
GREG HUNT:
G’day, Steve.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
Very special day. Greg, if you could outline now what you’ve been able to present in legislation that you believe is going to provide that protection for dugongs and turtles.
GREG HUNT:
So as of yesterday just before 2pm the Senate passed our dugong and turtle protection legislation. That tripled penalties for people who are killing or injuring these threatened species. They’re, as you know, magnificent species but they have enormous challenges and there’s been a lot of abuse which has been carried on. It’s respectful of genuine native title rights.
We have worked with traditional owners, who have been largely very, very supportive because their good name has been abused. And frankly, it’s been a discussion which we’ve had through this program, through work with Warren Entsch and work with Colin Riddell over the last five years.
The laws are important; the penalties are over $1 million now for taking, transporting, for anybody who’s doing this through poaching. But it wouldn’t mean anything if we didn’t back it with big, tough enforcement measures, and that’s the other critical change here.
As you know, there’s a now over $5 million dugong and turtle protection program of which $2 million is for the Australian Crime Commission as the toughest cop on the beat to chase down the poaching. They are doing the investigations. I obviously won’t pre-empt their work on that, but they are taking it very, very seriously and I know that they have had interviews and approaches throughout many parts of the Queensland coast.
There’s $2 million for Indigenous rangers to be on the ground and do work, and as of yesterday, the $300,000 which we’d allocated to the Cairns Turtle Hospital has now been doubled – I want to really acknowledge the work of Warren Entsch in this – to $600,000. So we’re trying to cover all different sides, as well as funding for reducing marine debris those sort of swirling ghost nets, which cause havoc.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
Now, these reforms apply to waters within the boundaries of the marine park. Does it – or, will it, in your view, definitely curtail the predatory activity on Green Island, Michaelmas Cay, and Low Isles?
GREG HUNT:
Well, if anybody is breaching the law they will be prosecuted. If there are those that are playing on the edges of the law and working within native title rights, we also have a plan there. We are working with the traditional owner communities and working very, very rapidly towards a full moratorium. I am hopeful that that can be done.
I know Warren Entsch recently convened a major community meeting and there are benefits for the community in terms of additional support with regards to rangers. So, the law – we’ve now put in place, we promised it, we promised it on your program. We have been pushing it through.
Bizarrely, it was filibustered and delayed by the ALP, but I think there was a savage community reaction so they got out of the way. And my commitment to dugong and turtle protections is just deep and strong and visceral.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
You use the term genuine native title rights. You use a distinction there, it’s interesting. What’s the difference between native title rights and genuine native title rights?
GREG HUNT:
Well it’s just where people have been poaching but, as the TOs themselves, as the Indigenous elders have said to me, their good name and their careful practices have been abused by poachers that have tried to hide under the cover that had nothing to do with local communities and they are some of the strongest advocates for stronger laws, for stronger enforcement and for Indigenous rangers.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
Now, Steve Davies, you’re on the line there. Steve, you’ve just heard what the Minister’s had to say with these reforms. Will they in fact stop the slaughter of turtles on Green Island?
STEVE DAVIES:
Yeah, I really hope so. I just want to really thank Minister Hunt for all the work he’s done and Warren Entsch. I think this is a really important step in the right direction and thank you for all your hard work. I know it’s a very difficult line that you tread, trying to keep lots of different parties happy.
You know, and we see the same regular faces out at Green Island up – two or three times a month, taking five to ten turtles at a time and wondering what on Earth is happening to those turtles, they’re certainly not being consumed daily on location. So this new reforms will go a long way to stop them being transported around the country and sold illegally on the black market for profit. So that’s a great step in the right direction.
Yeah, I really hope it – look, as the Minister said, it’s only a few people doing the wrong thing. There’s a lot of fabulous elders who are really supportive of not hunting and green zones and at Green Island. It’s just trying to get everybody on board which is the difficult part.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
Yeah sure. Alright, Greg Hunt, obviously we’re going to monitor the program to make sure that these improvements are going to be seen, they’re going to remain in place. Because sometimes, of course, people quite legitimately raise question marks about the effectiveness of such reforms.
GREG HUNT:
We need community vigilance. So, not only am I supportive of what you’re doing, I think it’s absolutely necessary. As with any law, it’s not just the police, it’s also the community that creates the culture.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
Sure.
GREG HUNT:
But what I am doing and what we have said through the Parliament and through legislation is, you will be prosecuted if we have evidence of wrongdoing and we’re backing this with tough laws, with heavy penalties and then perhaps most significantly, with very strong enforcement measures.
JOHN MACKENZIE:
Now, I think if Steve Davies is enthusiastic about these changes, I think lots of us are. Greg, thank you for your time today and Steve, thank you.
STEVE DAVIES:
Thanks very much.
GREG HUNT:
Thanks for your work over the last few years, I really appreciate it.
(ENDS)