A family claims their day out in the Whitsundays was ‘completely ruined’ after a worker at a Chinese-owned luxury island resort ‘screamed’ at a group of snorkeling children – because she believed they were trespassing.
Marine contractor David Edge from Airlie Beach in North Queensland worked on the public holiday and so celebrated with a family boat outing in the Whitsundays on January 30.
They stopped in the water near Sunlovers Beach on Daydream Island and four young kids in the group went snorkeling when a person dressed in a blue uniform – understood to be a Daydream Island worker – yelled at them to either pay or immediately leave the area.
Mr Edge, who had anchored his boat at a nearby public mooring, said he was shocked at the way the group was spoken to.
Mr Edge claimed the person dressed in a blue uniform understood to be a Daydream Island staff member yelled at the snorkelling kids they were trespassing on the resort (pictured)
Daydream Island (pictured) was bought by a Chinese conglomerate in 2015 and is therefore completely private
‘One eight-year-old girl was exhausted and just wanted to stand in the water to catch her breath and the staff were shouting at her to get away from the island,’ he told the Whitsunday Times.
‘At no stage did the kids go on the beach or attempt to go on the beach, they just wanted to go for a snorkel.’
He added that the worker instructed them they had to go to the marina office and pay if they wanted to be in the water.
Both the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Queensland Government Department of Resources confirmed this is not the case, however.
‘Most beaches in Queensland are state land to the highest tide mark and the Queensland Government is the only entity able to restrict access,’ a Department of Resources spokeswoman said.
Mr Edge is calling on other locals to form a flotilla at Sunlovers Beach as a protest to say that every Australian should be able to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef.
In March 2015, Daydream Island was acquired by China Capital Investment Group, a large conglomerate based in Shanghai for $30million – with the sale sparking a furore among locals about the the sale of iconic real estate to foreign buyers.
The Chinese company then bought nearby South Molle Island for $25million the following year which is surrounded by a national park and has one of the only sheltered north aspect white sand beaches in the region.
Different Chinese companies have also purchased parts of Kewick Island and Lindeman Island in the Whitsundays.
Marine contractor David Edge (pictured) has called for locals to form a flotilla at Daydream Island in protest
In 2017, Daydream Island was hit by cyclone Debbie which caused widespread damage to the tourist facilities and closed the island for two years.
After a major refurbishment costing $140million the redesigned resort was relaunched in 2019.
The island had previously been one of Australia’s top tropical getaways in the 1990s and from 2000 when previous owner Vaughan Bullivant took the helm – but the reviews since the relaunch have been mixed.
‘I have been to the old Daydream and now I have been to the new Daydream. I can tell you from experience, the new Daydream is not what it should be,’ one 2019 review on Trip Advisor reads.
‘The gardens have not recovered… the cleanliness is not to standard… there is no deck at Lovers Cove any more… there no iconic Mermaids [statue] on the rocks.’
Other reviews claim there were not enough staff to adequately attend to guests resulting in rooms not being cleaned or long waits for service at restaurants.
Daydream Island management previously issued a statement saying they were addressing the issues and staff numbers had been affected by border closures.
Daydream Island was rebuilt (pictured) after widespread damage from a cyclone in 2017
In 2021, a UNESCO meeting held in China threatened to list the Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’.
The World Heritage Committee’s draft recommendation warned that the ‘current condition and the long-term outlook of the reef have deteriorated’.
The Morrison government then accused China of using it’s sway in UN committees as a form of economic coercion against Australia.
The reef narrowly avoided being placed on the ‘in danger’ list.
Daydream Island (pictured) is a small island in the Whitsundays on the Great Barrier Reef
While the island (pictured) is private property the Queensland government said the beach is public up to the high tide mark
On Friday, Mr Morrison unveiled a billion-dollar package to protect the climate-ravaged Great Barrier Reef in another effort to prevent the vast network of corals from being removed from UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
‘We are backing the health of the reef and the economic future of tourism operators, hospitality providers and Queensland communities that are at the heart of the reef economy,’ Morrison said.
Mr Morrison will have to win key Queensland seats near the reef to remain in power at the May election.
When the UN previously threatened to downgrade the reef’s World Heritage listing in 2015, Australia created a ‘Reef 2050’ plan and poured billions of dollars into protection.
The Morrison government recently announced $1billion in funding for the Great Barrier Reef after a Chinese hosted UNESCO meeting threatened to moved reef from ‘world heritage listed’ to ‘in danger’ because of coral bleaching
The measures are believed to have arrested the pace of decline, but much of the world’s largest reef system has already been damaged.
A recent study found bleaching had affected 98 percent of the reef since 1998, leaving just a fraction untouched.
The Great Barrier Reef has suffered three mass bleaching events during heatwaves in 2016, 2017 and 2020, leaving many affected corals struggling to survive.
Much of the government’s latest package will be spent on preventing damaging agricultural runoff from polluting the reef.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Daydream Island for comment.