In March 2015, soon after the last state election, Labor Environment Minister, Steven Miles announced a review of the Queensland crocodile management plan. Labor had said nothing about a review of the plan during the election campaign. I warned North Queenslanders at the time that the former LNP Government’s regional crocodile management plans would be watered down.

In March 2017, Minister Miles unveiled the Palaszczuk Government’s new Queensland crocodile management plan. After two years of consultation, we now have a more complicated, less flexible plan to manage problem crocodiles. We’ve gone from having local plans and a simple three zone management framework, to a single state-wide plan with a complex six zone arrangement.

Since then, there’s been nothing but chaos across North Queensland under Labor’s crocodile management plan. We’ve had crocodile attacks on people and pets, North Queensland Mayors demanding changes to protect their communities and the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection failing to respond to calls about problem crocodiles under the new framework.

In a desperate attempt to salvage his credibility, last week Steven Miles held a crisis meeting with North Queensland Mayors, where he was forced to agree to a range of changes to Labor’s brand new crocodile management framework – which was only one month old. The implementation of the Palaszczuk Government’s farcical crocodile management plan has been a complete debacle.

Labor’s ideological pandering to the Greens has compromised public safety in North Queensland. Clearly, Steven Miles is an incompetent Environment Minister. He should resign immediately.