‘Zero respect’: K’gari visitor numbers questioned as shock photos shared

With about 800,000 visitors a year to Queensland’s world heritage listed island, a Butchulla leader has spoken out about restricting numbers in the wake of shocking littering.

Shocking images have emerged of garbage left behind on K’gari as the issue of restricting visitor numbers to the island again came to the fore.

Chezy Kassane shared the images on Facebook after visiting Coongul Creek earlier this month.

She shared her disgust at finding the rubbish in an area prized for its pristine environment.

“Unfortunately, some other people who came to enjoy this piece of paradise decided to leave 12 bags of rubbish behind, under a tree, full of red solo cups, beer cans and bottles, Gatorade bottles, paper plates, and other general rubbish,” she wrote.

“The dingoes and birds had been into it.

“We re-bagged the rubbish and are taking it back to the mainland.

Paradise lost: The clean-up of rubbish on K'gari.

“I hope that one of the grubs somewhere along the line sees this message and if they do I’d like to say one thing to them – do not ever come back, you don’t deserve to appreciate what a beautiful place this is, or how lucky you were to enjoy it.

“You obviously have zero respect.”

The Chronicle has reached out to Ms Kassane for comment.

It comes as Environment and Tourism Minister Andrew Powell there “were visitor caps on Fraser Island” based on how many people could book into capping sites, but the State Government had no intention of going beyond that.

He added there was no indication that there was an increase between dingoes and humans based on the number of visitors to the island.

Member for Hervey Bay David Lee also weighed in.

“The Crisafulli government has no intention of capping visitors to K’gari/Fraser Island,” he said.

“We are working on a new K’gari management plan and visitor strategy in recognition of the popularity of the destination.

“We are also working proactively to manage interaction between dingoes and people – particularly by educating visitors about the dangers of the wild dogs, and the need to always be vigilant especially if travelling with young children.

“We have a new booking system coming online soon to cope with increased interest in visiting this beautiful part of the world.”

The clean-up of the rubbish on K'gari.

Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation secretary Christine Royan said the group was increasingly concerned about the number of visitors on the island and the amount of rubbish, including toilet paper, being left behind.

The treatment of K’gari flew in the face of the Butchulla people’s first law: “What is good for the land comes first”.
“If they’re going to treat K’gari like that, we would prefer no visitors,” she said.

Ahead of the Olympics, she said she wanted K’gari to be known for its pristine environment, not for being a rubbish dump.

The clean-up of the rubbish on K'gari.

With an estimated 800,000 visitors to the island each year, popular destinations like Lake McKenzie and Eli Creek were regularly close to capacity, she said.

At times it was impossible to get a car into Eli Creek, she said, describing the current situation as “unsustainable”.

She said the number of visitors also had an impact on dingo behaviour on the island.

Ms Royan said the corporation wanted visitors to enjoy the island but to remember to “just leave footprints”.

A Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation spokesman provided a comment on the rubbish left on the island.

“It’s appalling that some people have a blatant disregard and disrespect for K’gari’s unique environment,” he said.

“Rubbish is a significant pollution risk to the environment, a fire hazard and can harm K’gari’s native animals.

“It also impacts on the experience of responsible campers and visitors to our wonderful national parks.

“Leaving rubbish behind is lazy and an offence.

“Rangers monitor camping areas and can issue on-the-spot fines of $322.60 to anyone caught unlawfully disposing of rubbish.

“People can also be issued $483 fines for failing to ensure food/rubbish is kept safe from dingos.

“K’gari is a World Heritage area for a reason and campers should treat it with the respect it deserves.”

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