Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in regard to some activities that happened several weeks ago in my home state of Queensland. I never thought in my wildest dreams that one day I would be involved in the capture and research of an estuarine crocodile, which was more than 10 feet long, on the muddy banks of the Wenlock River in Far North Queensland with the Irwin family, and experience one of the most beautiful and treasured pieces of landscape in this country. Ever since my youth I have been a keen outdoor person, trekking and camping in many places throughout Queensland and New South Wales. Although I have experienced many beautiful places in state and national parks, I have never seen such a rich and diverse environment as that contained in the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve. The reserve covers 135,000 hectares, which is home to rare and threatened plant and wildlife species, including six highly vulnerable plant species and four plant species which had never been recorded on western Cape York.

The most spectacular and threatened area of the reserve are the eight perennial springs, of which I experienced three, situated on the bauxite plateau. The springs lie on the margins or along drainage lines within the bauxite plateau, which feature discharge heads ranging from two to 650 metres in linear extent. Research indicates that the springs perform crucial ecological functions at both the local and landscape level. The springs act as a refuge and water source for woodland wildlife species in an otherwise dry landscape during the heat and drought of annual dry seasons. Ranger Barry Lyons demonstrated simply to us the need to retain the bauxite by pouring water over the ground and watching it absorb into the earth like a sponge would gather water. Bauxite, as we know, is permeable and does not absorb water. Therefore the plateau acts as a giant sponge by filtering rainwater during the wet season and slowly releasing it during the dry. We are not talking rocket science here; the springs need the bauxite to survive and the fauna and flora need the springs to see out the dry season. Should the proposed strip mining application proceed, research indicates it would irrevocably alter hydrological characteristics of the bauxite plateau resulting in the extinction and loss of unique species of fauna and flora. The proposed mining lease is for 12,300 hectares on the reserve, which represents just over one per cent of the current bauxite mining interests on the cape.

The three springs we experienced were Bluebottle, Tentacle and Oasis. To say these areas are unique is an understatement. I was following Ranger Barry Lyons and I felt myself trying to step in his footsteps to avoid any destruction to this amazing area. I saw fern forests probably never seen before, diverse and beautiful orchids, tall tree lands providing nesting for endangered species and unique pitcher plants, which are nationally listed as endangered. Bluebottle Spring is the largest of the perched bauxite springs and meets all seven of the significant ecological criteria. This spring provides a perennial freshwater flow for four kilometres through an otherwise dry landscape to the Wenlock River during the entire dry season. The spring provides a refuge for more than one per cent of the national population of vulnerable plants. In addition to flora, the spring provides food and nesting habitat for the rare palm cockatoo, of which we only saw three, the endangered red goshawk, the vulnerable marbled frogmouth and the rare grey goshawk.

Surveys have been conducted by professionals on various types of wildlife that rely on the existence of the perched bauxite plateau. A total of 41 freshwater fish and seven species of shrimps and crabs were surveyed in 2008. The survey results showed that the aru gudgeon was located in three of the springs, which provided a rare extension as it was thought to only be associated with Aru Island near southern New Guinea and the eastern side of the tip of Cape York. Of the wildlife surveyed, 75 bird, 26 reptile, 16 native amphibian, eight native mammal excluding microbats, and 16 freshwater fish species were recorded in the various springs, which comprised 151 vertebrate wildlife taxa in total.

In relation to the research in this area, Dr J Winter has indicated that the balance of the species are of regional conservation significance as they are Cape York endemic, they are of limited distribution and are suffering declining populations or considered locally threatened due to habitat loss from the development of broad strip mining across the Weipa plateau. Additionally, botanist David Fell has highlighted the role of the perched bauxite springs as isolated refuges for a significant range of plants of conservation significance that have formally only been recorded in eastern Cape York, the wet tropics, and/or New Guinea.

To protect this unique environment, Australia Zoo has proposed a management plan which includes strategies such as: establishment of formal recognition of this ecosystem; protection from fire incursion; development of protocols for human and vehicle access, including water and soil hygiene—Australia Zoo has already excluded direct vehicle access, which is a protocol not already followed by those recently associated with the area; ongoing feral pig and cattle control by shooting and trapping where appropriate; ongoing wildlife and botanical surveys with particular emphasis on the wet season and post wet season periods; ongoing monitoring of palm cockatoo nesting activities; ongoing monitoring of established vegetation monitoring plots; undertaking cultural heritage surveys and implementing appropriate management actions as necessary; monitoring all possible measures to ensure a safe distance for the location of any proposed public roads with respect to the potential for poaching and damage by unlawful visitors; undertaking all possible measures to protect the springs and the supporting bauxite land system from proposed bauxite mining; and liaising with the traditional owners on the effective conservation of the springs.

In regard to the Wenlock River, as mentioned earlier, I never thought I would be privileged to be involved in such an experience. When Wes Mannion, Managing Director of Australia Zoo, earlier this year extended an invitation to visit the reserve and said that I would at some stage be involved in the research and capture of estuarine crocodiles, I thought he was joking.

I arrived on the Monday afternoon of the last week in August, after escaping the hottest winter day in Brisbane’s history, and was greeted by Josh Lyons. After a few bits of business in the town of Weipa and collecting supplies, it was time to head north-east on the 1½- to two-hour four-wheel-drive journey. The journey takes you past extensive mining areas around northern Weipa where the earth has been substantially stripped for the resource of bauxite. After travelling through rough and remote dirt roads, we finally ended up at Stone Crossing on the Wenlock River. To my surprise a large number of the crocodile research team were cooling themselves off in the lower reaches of the river. Terri Irwin was keeping a watchful eye on the water, while Bindi and Robert were playing in the water with the other families.

From here it is a mere short distance to the coolabah campsite which was home for the next two nights. Despite it being several years since my last camping trip, I quickly settled into the familiar routine. Accommodation, of course, was tents backed up by quite surprising creature comforts like a hot shower heated from a fire under a drum, a toilet that actually flushed, a washing machine and lighting powered by a generator between morning and evening, a satellite phone, and great meals with special ingredients cooked by master chef Hannah.

Following a great barbecue on Monday night and a terrific night’s sleep, the morning commenced with a chorus of bird calls and breakfast, and we headed for the morning crocodile bag traps upstream. Barry Lyons, head ranger, took us to the first two, which were empty, and looked less than optimistic but the third produced the capture of a new male of over seven feet. Barry has a wealth of knowledge, with 30 years previous experience as a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger, and he explained different species of plants and wildlife along the way. The bag traps, being out of the water, needed to be dealt with first due to dehydration. Not long after the rest of the crocodile team arrived and the briefing was given by Briano, this feisty reptile was measured, sexed, tagged with a tracking device and released.

This was the third caught on the Wenlock overnight, with the other two being recaptures and so released. Assessment of whether a croc is a new capture or not is quickly done by tracking signals through the largest remote crocodile-tracking program initiated in the world, using cutting-edge acoustic telemetry. The tracking will run for 10 years, and over 100 crocodiles ranging in size from one to four or five metres will be monitored. It will showcase Australia’s expertise in crocodilian research, which is at the forefront of the field, with the key objective being to better understand the ecological roles and functions of estuarine crocodiles so that we are all in a position to understand, conserve and manage these iconic animals.

Meanwhile, plans were afoot for us to travel downstream on the Wenlock River to where a larger croc was awaiting in a floating water trap. My curiosity as to how the trap and croc would be recovered was shortly satisfied when the other team arrived. Within moments, eight of us were pulling the cage and croc out of the river up the muddy bank, being cautious, of course, not to fall into the murky river while performing this part. At this stage the highly professional, experienced and dedicated team sprang into action, securing the top jaws of the croc with rope and bringing the croc out of the cage. From here it is a mad rush to position yourself on top of the reptile so no-one is bitten. Having watched the team in action earlier that morning, I was quite at ease about the safety of both my fellow team members and the croc. Like the morning’s catch, the croc was measured, coming in at 10 feet 2.5 inches and identified as a male; a tracking device was inserted and he was sutured and released.

Nineteen new captures and 12 recaptures were the total for this season, bringing it up to 34 crocodiles with tracking capacity over the last two years. With the Wenlock River having the strongest population of crocodiles in Queensland, and crocodiles being listed as a threatened species, this area is an ideal site for research. Professor Craig Franklin, from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland, competently performed all of the procedural steps, from administering local anaesthetic and inserting the tracking device to suturing the crocodile. Subsequently, after leaving the cape, I understand there were scientists catching and inserting tracking devices into bull sharks in the Wenlock River. In fact, there were a number of groups of scientists making their way to this area to study its fauna and flora.

As can be imagined, Cape York has a wild history, with people like Frank Jardine and his younger brother, Alexander, travelling 1,200 miles through Queensland, from Rockhampton to Somerset, in 1864. They started with 42 horses and 250 head of cattle. The trip took 10 months, during which time the party was constantly harassed by the area’s inhabitants—various Aboriginal tribes—as they forced their way through scrub and swamps and crossed at least six large rivers. They reached Somerset on 2 March 1865 with 12 horses and 50 cattle. Frank Jardine claimed to have personally killed 47 people, and the total death toll was over 200. Local elders say the springs in this area are the weeping souls of the elders killed on the lands by the Jardines, and should the springs be affected by mining they would dry up or become muddy.

I hope that, for the sake of this beautiful area, we can find sustainable ways of preserving what is in my view one of nature’s gifts so it can be enjoyed by generations to come.