Cranky crossbench threatens to drop support if shark nets aren’t removed

Despite just one shark attack fatality at a netted NSW beach since 1937, minor party MPs are threatening to hook their support if shark nets aren’t removed. Chris Minns is standing firm.

Rebellious minor party MPs are threatening to pull support from NSW Labor if they don‘t ditch shark nets, declaring they don’t work despite just one fatal shark attack in a century on a protected beach.

The Greens and Animal Justice Party — who the NSW Government needs to back their votes in the Upper House — both attacked Labor’s plans to keep shark nets in place this summer on 51 beaches.

Despite just one fatal shark attack occurring on a netted beach in NSW since the meshing program was introduced in 1937, the minor parties have called on Premier Chris Minns to ditch nets.

But the Premier stood firm on the issue on Wednesday.

He said new technology – including shark-spotting drones and drum lines – wasn’t advanced enough for him to happily remove nets along the country’s most popular beaches.

Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst addresses the media in a press conference at NSW Parliament House. A a cross-party alliance between the AJP, Liberals, Greens, Liberal Democrats and independent MPs calling on the government to scrap the use of shark nets. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

“We‘re looking closely at the emerging technology. I think it’s a good ambition to remove them on popular Sydney beaches, but I’ve got to have confidence that the replacement and new technologies are as good as or at least as an appropriate substitutions as shark nets,” he said.

“I‘m not going to get rushed into it. This is an important decision and when it comes to the safety of people that recreate, surf and use Sydney beaches, I need to make sure that we’re completely satisfied … I don’t have that confidence at the moment.”

Just one fatal shark attack has been recorded at a netted beach in NSW since 1937.

Figures for 2022-2023 released earlier this month show NSW’s 51 netted beaches caught 204 animals that weren’t sharks, or four animals per net over the year.

Lawrence Chlebeck, a marine biologist with Humane Society International Australia who stood with crossbench MPs on Wednesday demanding nets be removed, said there had been 36 shark attacks on netted beaches since 1937.

He claimed the drop in deaths could also be attributed to “improvements in medical response times, emergency training, the bravery of our surf lifesavers and paramedics that make these bites not turned into fatalities”.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann on Wednesday signalled her party could stop backing Labor over the issue.

“This is an active discussion. We are incredibly disappointed and … looking at Labor‘s agenda looking at some things they want for us and us withholding support. They are definitely not acting right now in the best interests of the environment,” she said.

Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst said Labor’s environmental policies were “making it more and more difficult to work with this government”.

“Labor has been an absolute flop so far in regards to animal protection and environmental issues,” she said.

Originally published as Cranky crossbench threatens to drop support if shark nets aren’t removed