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Crocodile swim 'grossly negligent'
By Karen Michelmore
September 2, 2004

A TOUR guide's decision to invite tourists to swim in a crocodile infested billabong was "inexplicable, indefensible and grossly negligent", an inquest was told today.

The inquest at Darwin Coroners Court into the fatal crocodile attack on 23-year-old German backpacker Isabel von Jordon today heard final submissions.

The tourist drowned after she was mauled by a 4.6 metre, 500 kg crocodile as she swam with other tourists in Sandy Billabong, in Kakadu National Park, in October 2002, on the invitation of her tour guide, Glenn Robless, the inquest was told

Counsel assisting the coroner Michael Grant said the coroner should consider whether licensing should be introduced for Northern Territory tour guides.

Currently, tour guides can generally operate without any minimum training requirements, including first aid training

"That's clearly unsatisfactory," Mr Grant said.

The coroner, Greg Cavanagh, said he would be strongly recommending the government consider making first aid training a mandatory requirement of NT tour guides.

"I'm concerned right now that in this day and age in the very least it's not mandated that tour (guides) have ... a current first aid certificate," Mr Cavanagh said.

Mr Cavanagh said he was concerned the NT tourism industry – one of the territory's largest industries – did not have minimum standards.

Mr Grant also said Mr Cavanagh should comment on whether swimming in crocodile infested Kakadu rivers and waterways should be outlawed, and whether signs warning of crocodiles could be confusing to tourists.

However, no amount of signage could have prevented the death of the tourist because the group had placed its trust in the tour guide, he said.

"This death was squarely at the feet of Mr Robless," Mr Grant said.

He said the coroner should find there was no involvement of alcohol or illicit drugs in the death of the tourist, and the tour company that employed Robless, Gondwana Adventure, ran a "competent and efficient" operation.

Lawyer Lex Sylvester, representing Kakadu manager Parks Australia, said the coroner should consider that crocodiles had just killed two people in the park in the past 27 years – Ms von Jordon and local fisherman Kerry McLoughlin in 1987.

There had been about 3.5 million visitors to the park in that time.

"There is a long history of successful management of crocodile risk in Kakadu," Mr Sylvester said.

"The death of Isabel von Jordon on that night was not because of any breakdown in our crocodile risk management, but the incomprehensible and inexplicable actions of Mr Robless."

He said any changes introduced following the inquest needed to made on a regional level, across all of tropical Australia.

Possible changes could be to have more explicit warning signs and make it an offence to disobey them, and to make operators test tour guides on crocodile safety measures as a condition of their work in the park.

Mr Cavanagh will hand down his findings on a date yet to be fixed.

AAP

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