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Police charge canyoners for taking risks 19-Feb-2010 At 12:47:53 PM Tex

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Ah Crazyjohn,

I appreciate your view based on limited knowledge of factual information. Firstly, you assert that proper rescues rarely occur. I assume you state this because you don't see it in the media or hear about it on the grapevine. Well, I'm pretty confident at least some of the quoted 53 jobs were 'proper' rescues. Secondly, I know what a precedent is. And I know of several previous cases where people have been fined with the offences in question. These guys didn't go out and have an unfortuate accident. They entered a closed area of the park, that had signs and locked gates. They did it at a time when there had been significant rainfall in the days leading up to the event and with further heavy rain forecast (which did in fact fall). http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/IDCJDW2087.latest.shtml
The precedent/message here is, if you go canyoning in a closed national park, you're gonna get fined. If you go canyoning in a national park at a time when no reasonably sensible person would, you're gonna get fined. Thirdly, these guys didn't get fined because they required rescue (or as you put it, because the cops got wet walking them out). They didn't get fined because the cops were doing their job (although it is the job of the police to enforce the law.. "stupid" I know). Their illegal actions were DETECTED because one of their relo's rang the cops to go find them. They were fined because THEY BROKE THE LAW. It's that simple. If they want to defend their actions, then great, a court can decide. That's how our legal system works.