In our final story from the NQCC 50th Anniversary Project, Kenn Parker from Cardwell tells the story of how he and NQCC coordinator Carol Booth mounted the first successful action under the Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation Act (EPBC) to prevent a Cardwell farmer from using electrocution as a means of protecting his lychees from spectacled flying foxes. 

Kenn also remembers the events leading up to the meeting between Margaret Thorsborne and Kenn, and then US President Bill Clinton who was visiting Port Douglas in late 1997. At the end of the Presidential visit, Port Douglas was in lockdown and Margaret and Kenn bumped into Senator Robert Hill in a beachside park. Senator Hill was Environment Minister at the time, and Margaret used the opportunity to lobby Senator Hill about the EPBC Act which was passed in 1999.

Thank you to all the storytellers! Thank you to Kate Osborne and Townsville City Council for allowing us to capture these memories.