Terri Irwin unleashes on Bob Katter party’s crocodile-culling bill in 14-page response

Terri Irwin has condemned a proposed bill that would allow crocodile culling and safaris in Queensland. Photo / Getty Images

Terri Irwin has ripped into a crocodile culling bill introduced to Queensland’s Parliament, warning it will make humans less safe.

The animal conservationist and director of Australia Zoo has penned a scathing response to the latest bill by Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) to cull crocodiles in North Queensland.

Describing the recently amended proposal as “lazy and sloppy”, she warned it was a “recipe for disaster” that would “turn the clock back to the dark and destructive days prior to the 1970s”.

The bill cites a massive increase in crocodile numbers – something Irwin disputes – as justification for removing and euthanising crocs found in “populated” waterways, and enabling hunting safaris on Aboriginal-controlled land.

“North Queenslanders are angry about losing more of our recreational waterways to the increasing crocodile population,” KAP MP Shane Knuth said when speaking about the bill in the state Parliament last month.

“The constant threat of attacks, recent deaths and near-death experiences are dramatically affecting North Queensland’s outdoor lifestyle. We never had to worry about the threats of crocodiles in our recreational waterways and beaches until the last two decades.”

Irwin said the amended bill was a copy-and-paste of the original and described one section – which imagines currently croc-infested waterways being used recreationally – as “reckless, ill-informed and dangerous on so many levels”.

That section of the bill refers to the 1970s, 80s and 90s being a time when “there was always that little bit of risk [of encountering a crocodile], but we didn’t have to worry about seeing all these croc signs and we did not have to worry about swimming in that nice little saltwater creek”.

“That is all we are trying to achieve – that is, to bring it [the risk of swimming in these waterways] back so it is an acceptable risk,” the proposal continues, before going on to concede that, even after crocodiles are “removed”, some swimmers will “still get taken by a croc”.

In her 14-page submission, Irwin argues that the proposals are likely to increase crocodile-related deaths by creating a false sense of security.

“The removal of crocodiles, either through trapping or culling, will instead increase the likelihood of crocodile attacks as people believe the lie that, once a crocodile is removed from a waterway, there will be no crocodiles,” she wrote.

“Research has consistently shown that, when a crocodile dies or is removed, another crocodile immediately comes in to take over that territory. Because of this reality, the bill will not eliminate or even greatly reduce the risk of crocodile attacks.”

She dismissed claims that crocodile numbers had dramatically increased, saying there was no Queensland data to confirm that. The bill’s cited increase did not account for multiple sightings of the same animal, she said.

“It is the Irwin family and Australia Zoo’s belief that individual culling and relocation are not effective ways to manage crocodile/human co-existence; rather, research and educating people are the key.

“The best course of action is for people in crocodile territory to be ‘croc-wise’, reduce risk wherever possible and take sensible steps to minimise human-crocodile interaction.”

She also cited the work of her late husband Steve Irwin, saying “his capture and study techniques remain the world’s best practice to this day”.

His legacy meant that “Australia Zoo, in partnership with the University of Queensland … now manages the largest and most successful crocodile research project in the world”. She claimed that neither institution nor its research was consulted in the preparation of the bill.

Another proposal within the bill recommends that Indigenous landholders be allowed to offer safari-like hunting experiences to “high-end clients” as a source of income.

Irwin strongly rejected this idea and said that “even with the best of intentions, it is a recipe for disaster and will increase the number of attacks and deaths caused by crocodiles by increasing contact with crocodiles by safari shooters who have limited or no experience with crocodiles”.

Crocodiles are protected in Queensland and are listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.