NEWSPORT NEWSFEED: Council bound by Biosecurity Act on dingo response

Douglas Shire Council says it will not change its approach to trapping and destroying dingoes in Port Douglas as it responds to multiple reports of the native dogs chasing people near the Port Douglas Sports Complex.

A council spokesperson said Council has no plans to rethink its management strategy and that it uses traps to capture dingoes under guidelines set out under Queensland's Biosecurity Act 2014.

“Community safety is the number one priority during this process,’’ the spokesperson said.

“A number of residents have contacted Council about dingoes during the second half of this year.

“The incidents have included dingoes stalking and chasing residents. Many of the incidents have occurred at or near the Port Douglas Sports Complex.’’

Images of dingoes in an undisclosed location published by Newsport on Monday prompted significant backlash from residents concerned the publicity would lead to the destruction of the dingoes. But that publicity revealed some of the most outspoken protestors had knowledge the dingo traps had been in place for several weeks at least.

Council added that any damage or known interference with dingo traps would be reported to police.

Meanwhile, Cairns-based dingo and crocodile conservationist Luke Cooper has appealed to Douglas Shire Council to reconsider its approach to the management of the dingoes, calling it “absolute nonsense” and “crazy” to try to trap them which will, by the law of the Act, mean they must be destroyed.

“What I think Port Douglas needs is signage and education about the dingoes… if people are educated, you’re not going to be getting reports of problems with dingoes,’’ he said.

“I’m going to be working on these laws to be changed and getting signage up, along with broader education on dingoes to get that protection for them happening faster.’’

Mr Cooper said the community needed to learn to live with these animals.

“Keep food scraps put away. Don’t encourage the dingoes to interact with people and keep dogs away from where they are… don’t walk your dogs in the bush and walk your dogs at midday,’’ he provided as tips to decrease the chances of issues with dingoes.

After supporting disaster-ravaged communities throughout last festive season, Ergon Energy Network and Energex crews are hoping the weather and customers will be kind this time around.

Chief Operating Officer Paul Jordon said patience, tolerance and goodwill were the best gifts in tough times.

“Community spirit gives our people such a lift when they’re out rebuilding the electricity network after cyclones, floods, bushfires, and storms,’’ Mr Jordon said.

“Sadly, a small but vocal minority think it’s okay to lash out at our people who are just doing their job, including in life-threatening emergency situations.

“While we understand it is frustrating to have your celebrations disrupted by unplanned power outages, there is no excuse for physical or verbal abuse and we will not stand for it,” Mr Jordon said.

Over the course of a year, Ergon and Energex employees reported 111 cases of verbal or physical abuse from customers, including 57 in south-east Queensland and 54 in regional Queensland.

As Queenslanders prepare for festive season celebrations, Ergon and Energex have announced a moratorium on planned outages from Tuesday, December 24 to Thursday, January 2.

“We will be working to keep the Christmas lights, aircons, fridges and ovens on at a time of year when celebrations are in full swing, so we will be putting a hold on any planned maintenance that would have required a power outage.

“We will still have crews on standby 24/7 to respond to any emergency outages, which are more likely over storm season,” Mr Jordon said.