Comment: Politicians should stop fighting and find way to keep drum lines

The Federal Court’s decision on baited drumlines was clearly out of step with public sentiment and requires the politicians who’ve supported the program to fix it, writes Steven Wardill.

FOR almost 60 years, the State Government’s shark control program has been making Queensland beaches safer.

The program has been one of very few public policies to have endured for such a time while remaining blessedly free from the foibles of partisan politics.

The reason for this has been simple. Who would dare argue with the results?

From 1916 to 1962 there were 36 recorded cases of shark attacks in Queensland.

These resulted in 19 deaths.

Palaszczuk pushes for return of controversial drum lines in QLD

Fears popular southeast Queensland beaches could lose drum lines

Anger over sharks’ rights before swimmer safety

A great white shark swimming with a slight smile on its face just below the surface. The environment is the deep blue ocean. The shark looks to be in hunting mode.

But since the dragnet of baited drumlines was introduced in 1962, there’s been only one fatal shark attack at a protected Queensland beach.

Little wonder the program has been gradually expanded.

However, the program finally found a naysayer in the shape of fringe environmental group, the Humane Society.

And inexplicably, the Federal Court has agreed with the group’s view that the drumlines do little to protect swimmers.

How the court came to such a view simply beggars belief.

Surely, they only had to look at the statistics of recent attacks in northern NSW where there are no permanent drumlines to realise how effective the Queensland program is?

The court’s decision was clearly out of step with public sentiment and requires the politicians who’ve supported to program to fix it.

Given the long history of bipartisan support, not to mention the implications for Queensland’s tourism industry, you’d like to think it would be a relatively quick fix.

However, what has ensued instead has been an unedifying display of pointless political point scoring that has done nothing but advertise to the world that some of the Sunshine State’s most famous northern beaches are less safe now than they were a few weeks ago.

Much of the controversy has centred around the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries’ decision to remove 160 drumlines from within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The court’s decision only related to the marine park zone and that’s why the department only removed drumlines in this area.

Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has been particularly vocal. She’s accused the Palaszczuk Government of choosing “public alarm over personal safety” by removing the drumlines when the court only said caught sharks should not be killed.

“Queensland should reinstate the existing drum lines, while increasing surveillance and exploring modern complementary technologies such as drones, smart drum lines and tags,” she said.

There’s ample reason for Ley to be sceptical about the Palaszczuk Government’s motives in ordering the removal of the drumlines within hours of the court ruling.

After all, the administration isn’t exactly known for doing anything at pace.

And the State’s handling of last year’s Cid Harbour shark attacks – when it first said drumlines were the answer but then recanted and claimed all it could do was erect signs instead – hardly inspired confidence.

However, what on Earth is Ley suggesting when she says the State Government should just drop the drumlines back in and increase surveillance?

Is she saying to hell with what the court has ordered?

Or does Ley reckon fisheries officers should just harden up and start arming themselves with a decent set of pliers so they can simply release the sharks?

A tiger shark is retrieved from Cid Harbour after being caught in drum lines.

It might be news to the minister but these officers are dealing with marine life a bit bigger than the cod they catch in the Murray River in her electorate.

In fact, cutting a cranky four metre tiger shark loose from a hook is nearly as dangerous as getting between Ley and a bargain Gold Coast apartment buy, something she’s somewhat famed for.

Yet, while Ley is happily ordering fisheries officers back into the water, the Morrison Government hasn’t come up with a timeline for a legislative fix to what the court has ordered.

The LNP Opposition might be right when they say SMART drumlines, where sharks are caught and released, should be considered as a temporary solution.

However, it would take time to train officers and whether that’s worthwhile depends primarily on how long it’s going to take their Federal colleagues to come up with a legislative answer.

Dropping in new drumlines at 17 locations just outside the marine park was a prudent move by the State but that still leaves 27 beaches no longer with protection.

However, what wasn’t needed was State Fisheries Minister Mark Furner’s ham-fisted suggestion that Ley would be blamed if there was an attack.

While the politicians squabble, the reputation of Queensland beaches is taking a further battering, the last thing the tourism industry needs after those terrible Cid Harbour attacks.

From the start, what was required here was a bipartisan approach and a plan to ensure swimmers were protected by drumlines again as soon as practical.

Instead what happened was the political sharks began circling as soon as they saw an opportunity for a cheap feed.

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