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News.com.au
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- News.com.au
Terri Irwin unleashes on Katter Party crocodile culling bill in savage, 14-page long response
Terri Irwin has penned a scathing response to the Katter's Australian Party's latest bill to cull crocodiles in North Queensland. Describing the recently amended proposal as 'lazy and sloppy', the animal conservationist and director of Australia Zoo 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 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 is a copy 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'. The section in question reminisces about the 1970s, 80s and 90s 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' from the aforementioned waterways, some swimmers will 'still get taken by a croc'. In her 14-page long submission, Irwin argued the proposals are likely to actually 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 then there will be no crocodiles,' she wrote. 'Research has consistently shown that when a crocodile dies or is removed, then 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 also shot down claims that crocodile numbers have dramatically increased, saying there is no Queensland data that confirms that and that the bill's cited increase does not account for multiple sightings of the same croc. 'It is the Irwin family and Australia Zoo's belief that individual culling and relocation are not effective ways to manage crocodile/human coexistence; rather, research and educating people are the key,' she said. '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 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin, saying 'his capture and study techniques remain world's best practice to this day.' His legacy has meant that 'Australia Zoo, in partnership with the University of Queensland … now manage the largest and most successful crocodile research project in the world,' and she claimed that neither of those institutions or their research were consulted in the preparation of the bill. Another proposal within the bill recommends that Indigenous landholders be given the opportunity to offer safari-like hunting experiences to 'high end clients' as a source of income. Irwin also strongly rejected this idea and said, '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.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Terri Irwin calls Katter's Australian Party crocodile cull plan 'dangerous' as Queensland considers new laws
World-famous conservationist Terri Irwin has branded proposed legislation to allow crocodile culls and safari-style hunting trips as "dangerous" and a "recipe for disaster". The legislation put forward by Katter's Australian Party (KAP) proposes the creation of a Queensland Crocodile Authority, which would be charged with implementing "zero-tolerance zones" in populated areas, where all crocodiles would be culled or relocated to farms or sanctuaries. "These are man-eating killers," said KAP MP Shane Knuth, whose electorate of Hill takes in known crocodile country in Far North Queensland. But in a parliamentary submission, Terri Irwin described the population increase as "very modest" and said the KAP bill would "increase the likelihood of attacks" because so-called zero-tolerance zones would create a "false sense of security". "Research has consistently shown that when a crocodile dies or is removed, then another crocodile immediately comes in to take over that territory," the Australia Zoo director wrote. But Mr Knuth insists some recreational groups and farmers are worried and angry about the threat posed by crocodiles. "You could spearfish in the Tully River, you'd be ripped to pieces," he said. "The crocs are in their bore drains, they're in their farms, they're in their cane. "We want to get it back to what it was in the 1980s and 90s. It was a risk, but it was an acceptable risk." The KAP also wants Indigenous people to have the option to offer safari-style hunting trips to high paying clients. They describe this as a potential "economic benefit". Crocodiles were hunted to the brink of extinction in Queensland prior to the 1970s. Saltwater crocodiles are currently considered a threatened species and are protected. The Department of Environment estimates there are between 20,000 and 30,000 salt and freshwater crocodiles in Queensland waterways. They have been found as far south as the Boyne River in Gladstone, but are more common on Cape York, north of Cooktown. Speaking in Cairns at a public hearing into the legislation, traditional owners said crocodiles were spiritually and environmentally important. "Crocodiles are a part of us," Wanjuru man Dennis Ah-Kee said. "They help maintain the health of the waterways. Without crocodiles the waterways get sick and that's what we're trying to avoid". Kunggandiji man Warren Martens called for Indigenous people to have a greater say in crocodile management. "Indigenous people need to be involved in that process. At the moment we're left out of it," he said. "We have a great understanding of crocs and how they behave." In its submission to the parliamentary inquiry, the Whitsunday Charter Boat Industry Association expressed concern for tourists snorkelling and swimming, saying any death or injury would "undermine the ongoing viability of marine tourism". But David White, who has run wildlife cruises on the Daintree river for 28 years, said there was a lot of "hysteria" around crocodiles and "fear leads to hate". He favours education over eradication. "I work with them, I love them, they're amazing creatures, but whether you like them or not, it's not the way to keep people safe, it just leads to complacency." Professor Craig Franklin, who has researched crocodiles for three decades, agrees. "Attacks on people are very rare," he said. "It's absolutely possible for crocodiles and humans to coexist, having a comprehensive education and awareness program. "An independent review in 2021 praised the success of the 'Crocwise' education program for its pivotal role in reducing human-crocodile conflicts."
IOL News
29-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
KAP Group CEO Gary Chaplin to step down, Frans Olivier appointed successor
KAP Group announced on Thursday that CEO Gary Chaplin will step down from his executive role effective October 31, 2025, after 28 years with the company, including a decade as CEO. During his tenure, Chaplin steered KAP through significant challenges, including the collapse of its major shareholder, a downturn in the polymer cycle, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a recent major investment cycle. Under his leadership, the group achieved substantial growth and built a robust platform for future value creation, the company said in a statement. The KAP Board expressed gratitude for Chaplin's contributions to the group, its shareholders, customers, and staff, acknowledging the loss his departure represents while respecting his decision. Chaplin will remain available post-October 2025 to support the Board and his successor, ensuring a smooth transition.
Global News
26-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Manitoba farmers past the halfway mark for seeding season
The seeding season is progressing across much of Manitoba. Most producers are ahead of last year with provincial seeding progress at 57 per cent complete, according to Keystone Agricultural Producers(KAP). 'Many regions are seeing good moisture this growing season, and the forecast shows warmer weather,' KAP president Jill Verwey said in an emailed statement. 'Overall, we are optimistic for a good year and for most Manitoba producers to wrap up seeding on time or ahead of schedule. In light of recent trade tensions, this is some welcome good news for Manitoba producers.' For Korey Peters, seeding season is nearly complete on his farm in southeastern Manitoba. 'Seeding has progressed very nice this year because of the dry weather,' Peters told Global News, while adding his area could use more rainfall soon. Story continues below advertisement 'But I have to be careful what I wish for, as every farmer is.' View image in full screen Korey Peters climbs into his tractor in one of his fields near Randolph, Man. Iris Dyck / Global News Peters says seeding, along with farming as a whole, can be a balancing act. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Like every year, (we're) playing the game of when to sell crops, when to hold onto crops,' he said. 'Almost all of our crop from 2024 is out of the bin, we have a little bit of canola left to haul, but the rest is all gone.' Peters, who farms canola, wheat, soybeans, corn and sunflowers, says this year brings slightly more uncertainty due to China's tariffs on Canadian canola. 'We did actually gain a few acres this year and quite often we would put canola into new acres, it would just be a good first crop, and we made the decision not to,' Peters said, adding the overall impact of the tariffs on producers is still mostly undetermined. Story continues below advertisement 'Your guess is as good as mine, so I think acres in general, we'll probably be down a little bit on canola. We're about the exact same acres as last year, we definitely didn't increase them when it comes to canola.'
The South African
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Imbuko ChemChamp and Efficient Infiniti Racing crowned sani2c champions
Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje (Imbuko ChemChamp 'A') and Sarah Hill and Sam Sanders (Efficient Infiniti Racing) are the 2025 KAP sani2c champions. sani2c is known as the fastest stage race in the country, and the winning men's team general classification time this year is over 18 minutes faster than at last year's race. This gives some indication of just how fast the racing was in the men's race, with the top teams being neck and neck for much of the race. Joubert and Nortje were consistently stronger over the three longer days though and took a deserved win overall. The women's race was a lot more competitive than in recent years, with eight UCI women's teams registering to race. The increase in speed and competition this year can in part be attributed to the KAP sani2c 'OG' race being a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Category 2 marathon stage race since 2024. Marco Joubert and Tristan Nortje (Imbuko ChemChamp A) finished second to Honeycomb 226ers on Stage 3 in Scottburgh, but take the top step in the General Classification. Image: Anthony Grote At the start of Saturday's 86km final stage, PYGA Euro Steel had a gap of 44 seconds to Insect Science Cycling in third third place on the GC, and Philip Buys said they were hoping to capitalise on any mistakes, as the fast day of racing was unlikely to provide opportunities to break away. At Kenard Climb, after 34km, Philip Buys had pushed to the front of the lead group that now comprised PYGA Euro Steel, Imbuko ChemChamp, Honeycomb 226ers and Insect Science. At the top of 'Work to be done' climb in Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve at 39km, it looked as if Marco Joubert was going to make a break for it, but by 45km at Mtagati Bush, Philip Buys had reasserted his place at the front and Marco Joubert had fallen 10 seconds off the back. Arno Du Toit, of Insect Science, says: 'We were definitely quite strong today, especially considering that we burned quite a lot of matches early on, with Keagan dropping a chain. Everyone only has so many times they can push really deep. And we had to use it really early.' Insect Science Cycling then suffered a mechanical, losing significant time, providing just the opportunity that PYGA Euro Steel had hoped for. Bontekoning says: 'Just after Vernon Crookes, on the descent, Arno hit something, broke his wheel and punctured the tyre. We had dealt with a dropped chain in the first two kilometres, so we had already had to chase back to the group once.' By the 58km Water Point 2, Honeycomb 226ers had pulled to the front and by Ricky's Rail at 64km, all three of the top teams were back together. At this point the three teams went through a very muddy section and Philip Buys and Michael Foster both went over the handlebars in a bad fall. Despite getting themselves up and back on the trail, they were 30 seconds off the back at the 72km mark. Their goal of a stage win out of reach, they turned their attention to keeping a significant gap between them and the fourth placed Insect Science pair to ensure the podium overall. At Highway Singletrack, 9km from the finish, a sprint finish between the top two teams looked likely. But Honeycomb 226ers, hungry for the stage win, surged in the last few kilometres and finished in 02:41:58. Imbuko ChemChamp crossed the line after 02:42:19, 21 seconds after Honeycomb 226ers, but had a comfortable three minute lead over them for the overall win. PYGA Euro Steel finished third in 02:42:57. Pritzen says: 'They [Imbuko ChemChamp 'A'] have been doing a phenomenal job throughout the year. We enjoy racing against them, and at the end of the day, they make us all better. The level in South Africa is really increasing now, and it's thanks to them that we are all pushing ourselves a little bit harder, trying to be better every single time we line up with them.' Joubert says of their future plans: 'We're going to race marathon champs in two weekends time, and then take take a bit of a break. It's been a really good first half of the season, and I am just stoked with how it's been going with Tristan and the new team set up.' Sam Sanders and Sarah Hill (Efficient Infiniti Racing) broke free of second placed Cherise Willeit and Ila Stow Toyota Fortress to cross the finish line alone. Image: Anthony Grote In Saturday's stage, the top three women's teams were set for battle, but Efficient Infiniti Racing finishing in 03:17:40, were the most powerful team. Cherise Willeit and Ila Stow of Toyota Fortress (03:18:55) made them work hard for the victory. Toyota Fortress came a strong second on the stage, but Bianca Haw and Danielle Du Toit of Safari Essence Titan Racing (03:20:21) took second place overall among the women. Sam Sanders and Sarah Hill needed only to stick with Bianca Haw and Danielle Du Toit to ensure their seven minute overall lead was not lost. At the top of the first big climb of the day, Clint's Climb at 12km, all three of these teams were together, but with Bianca Haw pushing to the front. By 39km, Du Toit appeared to be struggling and was a bit off the back while her team-mate Haw hung on the wheels of the front two. As Sam Sanders says: 'Today we knew we would have to defend, but I thought there would be some action on Clint's time [12km]. And I think maybe Dani and Bianca wanted to go, but I saw Dani didn't have legs, and I thought, well, attack is the best defence. So I just started tightening the screws, and slowly everyone fell off, except for the two amazing ladies from Toyota Fortress, and Sarah. I just tried to keep the pace high. Knowing the route helps. I know that the climbs aren't super long, so you can really dig deep, and know you can recover a little bit.' Six kilometres later at Mtagati Bush, Haw and Du Toit were about 30 seconds back from the leading two. Stow and Willeit were briefly in the lead at Rocky Bay Trails at the 72km mark, and a sprint finish in the women's race seemed inevitable. But Sam Sanders' strength and experience kicked in and Efficient Infiniti Racing was able to cross the finish line a minute and 15 seconds ahead of Stow and Willeit. Haw and Du Toit came third on the stage. This meant that Sanders and Hill won the KAP sani2c by six minutes. Janice Fourie and Roxanne Kemp of EPT Racing placed fourth. Cherise Willeit says: 'This was so intense, I think pain level was very close to childbirth. We hung on to the Sam Sanders Express today. And what a phenomenal, phenomenal ride from the Efficient Infiniti ladies. They were so, so strong. We just tried to keep the gap to Bianca and Danielle. An incredible level of racing.' Ila Stow says: 'Riding with Cherise, she is so motivating and encouraging, and pushing me to another level, like I have not pushed the level before.' Bianca Haw acknowledged that they did not have the power needed today: 'We burned loads of matches on day two, and we didn't know how we would react today, but on the first climb, I could see it was going to be a super hard day. The others were all on fire. So we just hung in as long as we could, and then lost them at Vernon Crookes [39km]. And then the gap actually stayed the same, we could see them, but we couldn't catch them.' Danielle Du Toit says: 'Unfortunately, my legs didn't pitch to the party today, so I struggled on the steep climbs, and I just hung on. I made Bianca take the reins, tried to lose as little time as possible, to try and catch them. We unfortunately couldn't.' MEN Team Honeycomb 226ers (Wessel Botha / Marc Pritzen) – 02:41:58 Imbuko ChemChamp A (Tristan Nortje / Marco Joubert) – 02:42:19 PYGA Euro Steel (Philip Buys / Michael Foster) – 02:42:57 Insect Science Cycling (Keagan Bontekoning / Arno Du Toit) – 02:45:31 Imbuko ChemChamp B (Lood Goosen / Rudi Koen) – 02:51:36 WOMEN Efficient Infiniti Racing (Samantha Sanders / Sarah Hill) – 03:17:40 Toyota Fortress (Ila Stow / Cherise Willeit) – 03:18:55 Safari Essence TitanRacing (Bianca Haw / Danielle Du Toit – 03:20:21 TEAM EPT RACING (Janice Fourie / Roxanne Kemp) – 03:48:15 Index Efficient Infinity (Steph Wohlters / Sanchia Malan) – 04:16:19 MEN Imbuko ChemChamp A (Tristan Nortje / Marco Joubert) – 09:44:18 Team Honeycomb 226ers (Wessel Botha / Marc Pritzen) – 09:47:46 PYGA Euro Steel (Philip Buys / Michael Foster) – 09:51:03 Insect Science Cycling (Keagan Bontekoning / Arno Du Toit) – 09:52:53 Imbuko ChemChamp B (Lood Goosen / Rudi Koen) – 10:11:52 WOMEN Efficient Infiniti Racing (Samantha Sanders / Sarah Hill) – 12:13:21 Safari Essence TitanRacing (Bianca Haw / Danielle Du Toit) – 12:19:14 Toyota Fortress (Ila Stow / Cherise Willeit) – 12:30:53 TEAM EPT RACING (Janice Fourie / Roxanne Kemp) – 13:36:35 Index Efficient Infinity (Steph Wohlters / Sanchia Malan) – 14:15:52 For more information and full results, visit Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
