Whale Carcass - Take Note speech
I take note of the answer provided about the Government's approach to the disposal of the sperm whale carcass off the Royal National Park on Friday. What an absolute debacle that was. It could not be said that it was well coordinated or that whoever was in charge in any way knew that what they were doing was safe and the right thing to do. The first decision—to not tow the decomposing 25‑tonne sperm whale carcass out to sea and instead travel past 13 beaches to a populated beach with surfers and boaters—was the first mistake. Why would it not be taken out to sea?
The Minister responded, saying the council had apparently been notified that the whale was at the Royal National Park and it needed to be moved. But what it was not notified about was the timeline for the operation. The council did not know that the sperm whale carcass was being towed to Bellambi Beach. In fact, no-one did—no surfers, no swimmers, no fishers and no council. No-one knew until the boat came around with this massive 25-tonne decomposing whale. It then got to the point where the whale had to somehow be loaded into a skip.
Who knows whether the contractor, which was not the same contractor as the one that had already disposed of a dead baby humpback whale as a result of shark nets—different issue—knew what they were doing? I do not think it did, because the excavator, which looked like it was better suited to cleaning up rubble from a construction zone, was certainly not what should have been used to clean up this whale. It was absolutely catastrophic. The harnesses were not up to it and the dozer, instead of lifting the whale, ended up having to pull it apart, with kids watching and people filming. Then, of course, the ocean was filled with this disgusting mess, which attracted sharks. In an extraordinary response, the National Parks and Wildlife Service issued a media release to say that the removal of the whale was a success and the carcass was transferred safely out of the water. That is a lie. In no way was this a success.