JUNGLE DRUM: Bureaucrats don't do it in Daintree
LAWRENCE MASON COLUMN
There is a lot of talk about the Wangetti Trail and I think it is prudent to look back and see how we got there.
There has been talk of a 'long walk' in the Northern Wet Tropics for at least 30 years. In the early 2000s I participated in some ARUP led studies that were looking at a walking track from Daintree Village to Wujal Wujal. This, if built, would have had spurs off to Thornton Peak and certainly down into Cape Tribulation.
The paper is still online located at https://douglas.qld.gov.au/download/community_engagement/Daintree-Yalanji-Walking-Track-Feasibility-Study-2008.pdf
You will note that this paper was released the same year as we had a Rainforest Summit at Cape Tribulation. This was a massive talkfest but I do think that the Cairns Regional Council did listen, to a point. Again the Daintree Yalanji walking track was a feature. https://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/11532/22jan09_ordinary_cl14.pdf
I am not sure why, but this very worthwhile project languished until it was formally killed of in about 2016. I did note in some meetings I attended that certain people in high places looked a bit like a Bulldog chewing wasps when speaking about the trail. They had to look keen with the obvious benefit to Yalanji the trail would bring, but my assessment was that they were not in favour. I think they went home and white-anted it.
Starting in 2015, things started to move fast. National Parks bulldozed the Cow Bay Toilet Block, having previously removed the Mardja one. Then they proposed the removal of most of the Dubuji walk. This galvanised the often fractured Daintree community and we were VERY noisy, and supported by Julia Leu, we managed to reverse those decisions.
Around the same time the old Mowbray Bridge, being used as a fishing platform was deemed unsafe and pulled down in 2016 by DSC. The piers, still there after the 2023 mega flood, highlight that this platform could have been cheaply and simply made safe. But I think more was at play.
Glen Jacobs was very successful at lobbying for the Wangetti Trail around this time, and I think those in positions of power saw this as a way of 'diverting from Daintree', something deeply entrenched in policy since the 90s. Not only was the Wangetti Trail successful in getting government support, it included what is probably the ugliest bridge in the southern hemisphere, as a replacement for the old fishing platform. There is no useful fishing platform on it and the people I used see to enjoying the old platform are gone. As are the shady trees that were replaced with car park. They must have been listening to Joni Mitchell? Paved Paradise and put a parking lot. Someone should paint a big yellow taxi on that monstrosity of a bridge!
I believe the Wangetti Trail is a deeply flawed concept, through steep and unforgiving terrain, with little good rainforest. The one nice swimming spot along it is Wangetti's water supply. The short time the southern end has been open has seen much water damage and conflict between cyclists and walkers. Even parking has not been addressed; if it gets busy like forecast, the streets of Palm Cove will be lined with cars.
I cannot for the life of me understand why successive governments are throwing money at this White Elephant. Why not invest in the Daintree?
Oh yeah.....that's not what's done, and the reason we are still on diesel power while communities on mains power to the south and north of us are getting microgrids. It's why the road is falling apart in what is easily the most sought after destination in Wet Tropics. And the reason why we are 'investing' what I believe to be around $100 million in a carbon belching diesel ferry to the world's oldest rainforest.
You would hope some intelligence was directed at planning sometime soon. Or is that too much to ask?
*Lawrence Mason has lived at Cape Tribulation all his life, and has been involved in farming, timber and tourism. He is a former board member of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, founding Chair of Daintree Marketing Co-operative, and has been a member of both Alexandra Bay and Mossman State High School P&C. He is also a member of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce and has a keen interest in local issues.
- The opinions and views in this column are those of the author and author only and do not reflect the Newsport editor or staff.
