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Katie Woolf spoke with Director of Northern Australian Park Lincoln Wilson · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security have an
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: outset they're going to continue to support a family friendly
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: environment by excluding smoking around selected water holes at Lichfield
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  Speaker 1: National Park. Now joining us on the line to talk
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  Speaker 1: further about this is the Director of Northern Australian Parks,
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  Speaker 1: Lincoln Wilson. Good morning to you, Lincoln, Good morning Cody.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for your time this morning. Lincoln, What exactly is
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  Speaker 1: going to be happening with the smoking.
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  Speaker 2: Band So either jury the first, we're just going to
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  Speaker 2: introduce zones around their meeting swimming areas at Florence purely
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  Speaker 2: and Wongo at Lichfield and we're just making sure that
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  Speaker 2: people do not smoke or use ecgrets, et cetera within
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  Speaker 2: that area.
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  Speaker 1: And how come you decided to make this decision.
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  Speaker 2: We've had legislation in place since about two thousand and two.
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  Speaker 2: The greater public areas have already been made for smoking.
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  Speaker 2: While we do have an outdoor environment, smoking around children's
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  Speaker 2: play equipment and high series is not in line with
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  Speaker 2: the public expectations. And yeah, it's just time to make
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  Speaker 2: it more fairly in family environment out there on parks.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Look, I'm not a big fan of smoking and
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  Speaker 1: I know for me, if I'm somewhere with the kids,
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  Speaker 1: the last thing I want is to be inhaling somebody
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  Speaker 1: else's secondhand smoke. But I just wonder how's it going
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  Speaker 1: to be policed or monitored.
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  Speaker 2: So as we did with the Howard Springs and Berry
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  Speaker 2: Spring just been wanted to buy the Rangers. The vast
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  Speaker 2: majority of people who already don't do smoking around the
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  Speaker 2: public areas anyway, So look just a minority, and we
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  Speaker 2: hope to work through and get understanding from these people
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, do you reckon that most people will be fairly
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  Speaker 1: cooperative in this space?
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  Speaker 2: Looks extremely cooperative? But how it Springs and most people are, Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: And so.
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  Speaker 1: Can you just run us through again exactly which locations
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  Speaker 1: it's going to.
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  Speaker 2: Be Lincoln, So the three new locations at Lichfield will
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  Speaker 2: be Florence, Rearely, and one go Falls.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, And it does sound as though there's already some
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  Speaker 1: other locations where there's a smoking ban already. Is that.
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  Speaker 2: You've still got your normal public bands around eating areas
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  Speaker 2: and gathering areas and things like that anyway.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so hopefully, I mean, look, like I said, I
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  Speaker 1: actually think it's fair enough if You've got families out
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  Speaker 1: there enjoying the beautiful the beautiful settings. The last thing
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  Speaker 1: you want is to be inhaling someone's secondhand smoke. And
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  Speaker 1: it sounds like you guys have thought it through and
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  Speaker 1: it is something that the rangers will be able to manage.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Look, there's a lot of feedback from the public,
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  Speaker 2: so we're just trying to support the public expectations.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I reckon, it's a fair enough idea and a
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  Speaker 1: fair enough thing to have happening. Lincoln, How is everything
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  Speaker 1: going in our beautiful Litchfield Park at the moment?
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  Speaker 2: It's getting wetter and wetter as we speak at that way. Look,
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  Speaker 2: we can see the closures are coming for the lower
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  Speaker 2: visitor areas and will be probably falling back to swimming
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  Speaker 2: at places just like Fiance and purely in the near future.
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  Speaker 1: And do you see sort of when that additional wet
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  Speaker 1: weather arrives to his more crocs around, you know, different
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  Speaker 1: locations and that kind of thing as well, or is
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  Speaker 1: it all does it sort of stay status qui?
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  Speaker 2: No, Look, it sort of. It allows water connectivity back
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  Speaker 2: through to the swamps and the rivers with the high
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  Speaker 2: crocodile populations, and it also, you know it's such flooding
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  Speaker 2: and turbid water and conditions out there, it's safe for swimming.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and how are the decisions made about when you
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  Speaker 1: do need to close some of those areas.
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  Speaker 2: So one guy has a system in place from a
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  Speaker 2: very very stage about water levels and what's safe water levels.
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  Speaker 2: So we have markers there that we know which is
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  Speaker 2: safe and not safe and we've been bound by those
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  Speaker 2: guidelines for many years and it's always given us safe results.
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  Speaker 2: So we are dear to it well.
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  Speaker 1: Director of Northern Australian Parks, Lincoln Wilson, we appreciate your
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  Speaker 1: time this morning, thanks for having a quick chat with us.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, you have a good day with you too, mate,