This year’s ‘Swim For The Reef’ will be the biggest yet with swimmers far and wide helping to raise funds for the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland (EDO Qld).
Citizen Journalist Adel Berridge interviews Dennis Tafe from Victoria Point, one of the everyday hero’s ensuring Redlands contributes to this event.
Q. Dennis, you formed a team to raise funds for EDO Qld. Most people have no idea this annual event is being held over four weeks, (from 14 Jan to 10 Feb) let alone supported in Victoria Point. How did you get to hear about it?
A. I was invited to participate last year. I was contacted through my membership of the Australian Conservation Foundation. I also attend meetings of The Wilderness Society and the Australian Marine Conservation Society so have always known the work EDO does for Australian Conservation.
Q. How did you go this year compared to last year?
A. We doubled it. Between all the swimmers last year we swam 4.7 kilometres. This year we doubled the amount of swimmers and swam around 10 kilometres between us. I told the YMCA to expect six swimmers and eleven turned up.
Q. You held this event at the Victoria Point YMCA both years, does this mean they are fully supportive of this event.
A. The YMCA have been very supportive. They gave us 2 lanes at no cost for 2 hours. We attracted a bit of interest while we were there from other swimmers. One man, John, gave us a lot of support and joined our team. I think we’ll need another lane next year.
Q. Your wife Leah said she couldn’t swim before 2007 and had a fear of water yet she came out and swam today. How did she overcome that fear?
A. Leah is amazing. I am so proud of her. She nearly drowned in a pool in Bali. She wasn’t aware the depth was over her head and as soon as she was in deeper water she panicked and quickly went to the bottom. No one noticed her struggling. I just happened to be talking to someone and looked to see my wife had disappeared. I rushed back to where I had seen her and saw her struggling on the bottom and quickly pulled her out.
Q. She’s just done a huge swim today. How did she overcome her fear and have the confidence to take on this event?
A. Yes, she has achieved an incredible milestone for someone who could not swim at all. As soon as we came back from our trip she started swimming lessons in Thornlands. We now swim regularly together at the YMCA.
Q. I notice you have two children in your group, six year old Elise and eight year old Ari. Do they know they are here to raise funds for the EDO?
A. They sure do know. I met Ari a couple of years ago when I took a group of school children across to Stradbroke Island for a marine biology study under Dr Tafe Safari’s educational program. Ari wants to be a biologist and he visits me regularly to develop his skills for research. His family started up a butterfly club soon after that trip. Amazing family.
Helping the EDO
Q. Dennis, this is the second time you have entered this event for the EDO. Why is this important to you?
Quite simply the EDO helps people when governments just take no notice of environmental matters. For example the fella who was the environmental minister Josh Frydenberg went against the advice of his own department. No one knows why. We need people like the EDO. Adani is another example of a legal case the EDO have taken on for the Great Barrier Reef. Who else would do it?
Q. You are a marine biologist and extremely vocal about the Toondah Harbour project. Have you spoken to EDO to see if they are aware of this project?
A. They are right onto Toondah. This will be a big one for EDO if they have the funds. I’ve written countless times to Andrew Laming and he still confirms his support knowing this is a 20 year project with 3,600 units.
You don’t have to be a biologist to know how bad this is and someone has to be outspoken about the environmental damage.
This article is accredited to Citizen Journalist Adel Berridge.
Redlands2030 – 24 January 2019
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One Comment
When I said in the interview with Adelia Berridge that Andrew Laming still confirms his support I was not talking about support for the future of the Redlands or preserving our current lifestyle, along with our unique wildlife, such as migrating shore birds, dugong, sea turtles and dolphins, which all rely on a healthy ecosystem. I was not talking about his support for he welfare of the koalas that currently live in the mature eucalypt trees next to G J Walter Park. I was talking about his support for a wealthy developer who openly plans to dredge 42 hectares of the protected Ramsar wetlands so he can construct 3,600 units up to 10 storeys high along the foreshore. Have a look at the artist impressions of the artist who was employed by Lang Walker and tell me where you can see at least 40 blocks of units 10 storeys high. They are not shown for obvious reasons.