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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-08-21 Daily Xml
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Fowlers Bay Whale Tours

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:20): The ongoing challenge faced by EP Cruises Fowlers Bay continues to truly concern me. I am amazed at the bloody-mindedness of the Department for Environment and the environment minister, and the way they are treating the process they are enforcing on Fowlers Bay, placing restrictive conditions on EP Cruises which will then render them unable to continue their current nature-based ecotourism business operations.

EP Cruises whale tours at Fowlers Bay have been told by the environment department that come 2027 there would be no renewal of the permit that they have held for the past 15 years which has allowed them to approach adult whales to 100 metres and calves to 150 metres, with no detrimental impact upon calving, whale migration, population or density in Fowlers Bay. The ongoing science and observation have shown that the whale aggregation numbers have grown exponentially over the last 15 years in Fowlers Bay, faster than anywhere else—all while EP Cruises have been operating under their existing permit arrangements.

You will not find an ecotourism operator more conscientious than Rod Keogh. He has a wideranging, practical knowledge on southern right whales, especially in Fowlers Bay, and if you are lucky enough to go on one of his tours you will see the genuine love, care, thoughtfulness and effort with which he operates and interacts with the whales of Fowlers Bay.

The response, or the lack of response, from this government's senior leadership is so incredibly disappointing. Rod and EP Cruises just want a fair go. They just want to be able to continue to operate with their current restrictions. The wider community and anyone who has been on board one of these tours just want the current operation arrangements to continue.

The responses from the government have been uninformed and rigid. Fowlers Bay is nearly 1,000 kilometres away from those making these decisions. It is not the same as Encounter Bay. They do not have boats all throughout their bay—the only operator is EP Cruises and there is hardly any recreational boating at all. The geographical nature of Fowlers Bay itself means that there is not a safe way to operate with the proposed restrictions.

The department are using the excuse of somehow trying to align the region with existing standards at Encounter Bay, which is absolutely absurd. They talk about the need for tours to be conducted in accordance with the 300-metre approach distance recommended by the Australian National Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin Watching from 2017. These are guidelines which were developed for commonwealth orders, which obviously have different characteristics.

I have looked at these guidelines, and let me quote:

In areas such as BIAs [Biologically Important Areas], or where there is a substantial whale and dolphin watching industry, or when new techniques for watching whales and dolphins are being introduced, there may be a need to implement additional management measures. These measures may be applied through various administrative means including regulations, permits, licences, management plans and codes of practice.

Additional management requirements may lead to different measures to those currently required under EPBC Regulations, including the potential to allow closer interactions—

closer interactions—

that are coupled with more stringent restrictions on other elements of an operation (e.g. limits on the time spent with animals, number of trips per day, area closures etc.)

The very guidelines that are being relied on by the Minister for Environment's justification for changes admit that there needs to be capacity to allow for permits to allow for closer interactions for appropriate professional whale-watching businesses. Fowlers Bay ticks all those boxes.

I have written to the Premier. I have written to the minister. These are unique circumstances at Fowlers Bay. EP Cruises are the most professional, environmentally conscious operators you could ask for and there are special conditions in place. Please, allow for the current restrictions to stay in place and continue on. Allow this business to continue to provide their high-quality ecotourism experience. They are willing to continue to have the restrictions around the number of trips per day, area closures, etc. If you do not, the impacts on this business and the West Coast in general will be significant.

I want to continue to bring up the situation with the police station in Cummins and bring it to the attention of the government; in fact, there is currently no police station in Cummins. Following prolonged deterioration, the old police station building was eventually condemned in 2022, with temporary measures being in place ever since. I have raised this a couple of times with previous ministers. Former Minister Szakacs said:

My strong view is that the quicker we can get more permanent facilities available, not just for SAPOL but also for the member's community in Cummins, the better.

I can assure the member that the planning by SAPOL has been running in parallel to that for the securing of ongoing permanent accommodation. I can give the member some comfort that SAPOL will have a long presence, not only on the EP but in Cummins.

I am bringing this to the attention of the minister because we have seen nothing on the ground and my people in Cummins are starting to wonder what is going to happen with that big, vacant block.

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