Friday 18 September 2009

We want a doer, not a mumbler.

"We want a doer. I don't want a mumbler that goes all the way down to Canberra and mumbles," Colin Riddell of Edmonton says about the local Federal member of Parliament, Jim Turnour.

"Where's the overpass that he promised and got elected on?" Riddell asks. "We sit out there for an hour and a half on the highway."

"What's he doing about the killing and hunting of Dugong on the coast of Cairns? I've seen around 30 of them murdered around the time of the state election near Yarrabah," Colin said.

Colin Riddell is co-ordinating a meeting in Cairns with Greg Hunt, the Federal Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Water, to address the non-traditional killing of dugongs.

"I was talking to Peter Garrett's office about this issue, and they wouldn't listen, and simply hung up," Riddell says.

He is advocating that dugong should only be taken by traditional methods, that is with canoe with a spear.

"Turnour has not done anything on this issue, and I'm was a Labor supporter," he says.

"What has he done? I don't want to hear what the Rudd Government has done, what the Rudd stimulus has done, I want to hear what Jim Turnour has done for North Queensland," Colin says.

"I can tell you I'm angry and there's a lot of other people that feel the same and I run into all the time," Colin Riddell says.

6 comments:

Tyson said...

If it's 'traditional' hunting, take the motor off that boat, and do it 'traditionally.'

Wendy Richardson said...

LNP's State Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Glen Elmes, will be up here in Cairns next week and is also very aware of this issue.

He is addressing a public meeting at Kewarra Beach Resort, 7:30p.m. on Monday 21st September. All welcome, including people concerned re this issue.

Glen will also be on McKenzie's talk back show at 10:30 on Wednesday 23rd and no doubt will talk on this topic if given the opportunity.

As far as I am concerned, I am a passionate Animal Welfare advocate. I do not support cruelty for any reason. As a society I think we are demeaned by allowing cruelty or torture to go on.

I have no problem with Indigenous folk having rights to an amount of dugong or turtle for traditional use, but not via cruel methods or in quantities or areas that endanger their survival.

I support instead having the numbers of our Parks and Wildlife, and Fisheries officers returned to former staffing levels and resourced so they can properly police ANYONE fishing illegally or any acts of cruelty.

At present all over Qld, people such as these are telling me their numbers have been cut so much and their budgets almost non-existent that any laws can be flouted as no-one is available to monitor or control the situation.

What Me Worry? said...

Electors in North Queensland are rubes.

Easier to kneejerk vote "Labor" instead of finding out if the candidate has any experience, training, or education relevant to the job. Turnour has none of these - his first week on the job he looked just as stunned as a deer in the headlights. He's a seat filler, an empty suit, nothing more. He's told when to jump by his Labor masters, and he asks "how high".

Lillian at Yorkeys said...

Wendy - I take your comments about the dugong situation, but hey, your comment: "I am a passionate Animal Welfare advoate". Have you been campaigning to get the remaining battery farm chooks out of cages in FNQ? What about the pig situation? What about overseas animal transports out of Karumba? The fate of the cassawory? Comments on Northern Beaches development & wallabies? What are your animal welfare credentials? What animal welfare groups or conservation groups are you affiliated with?

I am actually interested in your response, otherwise, you're just another wannabe pollie. Over to you, Wendy....

COLIN RIDDELL said...

As I am the one that gave jim mumbles turnour a rocket on macca on friday ,It is only fair to say why I care about the open house policy on turtles and dugongs by the guise of tribal law , that gets up my nose , it is our bulldust pretence about the japanese killing whales. It is wrong I agree also.
And then hearing of 30 odd dugongs being murdered at yarrabah , a species endangered also.
And then a local man tHat has pictures of the dugong and turtles being murdered by supposed tribal law right , and he showed them to the crew of greenpeace that was in port recently and they said they were not interested , well stuff me ! that is not the aussie way !
So I will pursue this issue to the bitter end.
As for wendy I have asked for her help along with greg hunt shadow minister for the enviroment, as garrets office hung up on me , and jim mumbles turnour tried to turn it into a racial issue ,the easy out for a weak local member !
AND TO EASE YOUR MINDS I don,t want anything but justice and fairness.ps thanks wendy for putting it on the radar.

KitchenSlut said...

You are correct Colin. Why are we opposing whaling in societies where this is a traditional food source while hypocritically supporting traditional harvest of dugongs even when it isn't? Specism?