Dametto launches petition to save huts

A hut located within Halifax Bay.

HINCHINBROOK MP Nick Dametto has called on the community to have their voice heard after launching a parliamentary petition to save several historic huts in Halifax Bay.

It follows local hut owners receiving letters from either the Department of Environment and Science or the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy to remove huts located within Halifax Bay Wetlands National Park and on unallocated state land.

Mr Dametto said the government’s push to remove the huts was “absolutely unnecessary” and an attempt to take away what has been an “integral part of Hinchinbrook Shire’s culture for decades”.

“For generations, we have enjoyed these areas long before they were national parks and I believe the people who have utilised these areas have looked after them to the highest of standards,” he said.

“But once again, we see a State Labor Government hell-bent on taking away our freedoms as North Queenslanders to enjoy the outdoors like we once did.”

Mr Dametto said he had recently met with representatives from the Department of the Environment and Science, Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch’s staff as well as Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham to put the case forward to retain the huts.

“It infuriates me that none of these meetings saw any appetite for this government to consider working towards a solution where hut owners, native title holders and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service could co-exist in the same area,” he said.

“It’s important to note when these huts were erected, they were not built in national parks. Over the years, national park realignment has seen national parks encroaching on the areas in which these huts were built and our lifestyle.

“I can understand the methodology behind national parks but let me make it very clear, the “lock it up and leave it” mentality is only creating an environment that breeds weeds and feral animals.

“I will continue working with hut owners, the Halifax Bay Recreational and Lifestyle Association Incorporated, their legal representation as well as local council to fight this to the bitter end.”

To view the e-petition, click here.