Bob Katter‘s political party, the KAP, is threatening to block the upcoming state budget for Queensland if the government doesn’t let them start culling some bloody crocs.
Katter and his party members have been calling for a croc-cull for so long that it’s starting to feel like the main platform of the party. They’ve proposed croc-shooting safaris and managed culls across north and far north Queensland, in response to what does seem like an uptick in croc-related deaths and injuries.
(A small caveat: the most recent high-profile croc-chomp was a direct result of the chompee diving straight into the known habitat of the chomper – yes, I’m talking about Lee de Paauw, who leapt into the notoriously crocodile-infested Johnstone River in Innisfail on a dare last month. Is that an uptick in croc attacks or an uptick in regional daftness?)
Regardless, the KAP are dead set on finally getting to shoot a big one, presumably in some kind of ice-cold vengeance/Crocodile Dundee fantasy sequence.
Mt Isa MP (and son of Bob) Robbie Katter said that the croc problem is getting out of control, and the party is resorting to desperate measures.
“People think it’s unreasonable making threats on the budget, well how else do you get people to listen?“Our obligation is to go down there and vote for the interests of north Queensland and if people are dying and you can’t get them to listen, what are you supposed to do?”
There have been four confirmed deaths by crocodile in the last twelve months, all in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and it does look like croc numbers are increasing. Politicians up north are definitely abundantly aware of the dangers that come with expanding populations of territorial prehistoric lizards with a taste for human flesh. It’s just not totally clear whether letting people go and shoot ’em is the best method of recourse.
Source: 7 News.
Image: Getty.
