Qld mayor calls for ban on children outside K’gari fenced areas

A Queensland mayor has called on the state government to ban children younger than 12 from camping anywhere on K’gari that is not fenced against dingoes, citing the grave danger children are in and his fears of another death.

A dingo walking along 75 mile beach on Fraser Island on a sunny day

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour is a local politician and a family man.

He is also a very worried man.

He has called on the state government this week to ban children under the age of 12 from camping in unfenced parts of K’gari, writing to Department of Science Minister Leanne Linard.

Almost every month, there is an incident involving a child and a dingo on K’gari - children are being stalked, bitten, scratched and seriously injured with frightening regularity.

Mr Seymour wants to see children more protected before another one is killed.

Just over a week ago the most recent attack involved a four-year-old girl who had to be airlifted off the island after being bitten and scratched on Orchid Beach on Saturday, August 17.

The dingo had approached her and grabbed her around the chest area, causing lacerations, bruising, and a puncture wound.

What worries Mr Seymour is that the attacks keep happening despite the massive information campaign and the repeated message to parents to never let their children venture further away than arm’s length, always carry a stick, remain vigilant and never walk alone.

Mr Seymour has a four year old son, who went with the family on a trip to Kingfisher Bay Resort on K’gari two years ago, which is fully fenced.

“We never left the resort,” Mr Seymour said.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour

There are multiple options for camping on K’gari within the protection of dingo fencing.

According to the DES website, those include two areas at Central Station, Cornwell’s Camping area, Eli camping area, Lake Boomanjin, One Tree, two areas at Waddy Point, and the Wongai camping area.

Families with children under 14 are already encouraged to camp in fenced areas.

Camp somewhere where it is less dangerous for young children, Mr Seymour said.

“How many more serious attacks will there be before we have a fatality?”

The last child killed by a dingo on K’gari was 23 years ago in 2001, when nine-year-old Clinton Gage was attacked and mauled to death by two dingos near Waddy Point.

Driving on the beach on K'gari (Fraser Island), Queensland. Picture: TEQ

My Seymour said he knew there were all kinds of risks heading over to K’gari; people had drowned there, died in car accidents and been attacked by sharks.

But he said the camping safety implications for young children there now were “too grave”.

“I just think it’s a management issue,” he said.

“We want to preserve the wilderness, and we want to keep children safe.”

State government MPs reportedly declined to back the proposal on Monday.

“We’ll of course act on the advice of experts, before we take any further action,” Treasurer Cameron Dick told Channel 7.

A dingo walking along 75 mile beach on Fraser Island.

K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, is about 400km north of Brisbane.

The island was marred by a series of dingo attacks in 2023.

An eight-year-old boy was attacked in early July and a 10-year-old boy was dragged under the water by a dingo in June.

In mid-July, a 24-year-old woman was hospitalised after she was attacked by a pack of dingoes while out jogging on the beach.

A six-year-old girl was hospitalised with puncture wounds to her head and hand after a dingo attack in April.

Altogether, there were more than 100 high-risk or threatening interactions between dingoes and people on K’gari in 2023.