Qld drum line removal dangerous political stunt: Sussan Ley

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has launched an extraordinary slapdown of the Queensland Government over its handling of a court ruling on shark drum lines.

FEDERAL Environment Minister Sussan Ley has accused the Queensland ­Government of choosing “public alarm over personal safety” in removing shark drum lines, as state authorities prepare to roll out extra equipment today.

In an extraordinary slapdown, Ms Ley said the removal of the equipment so soon after the Federal Court decision — which stops sharks being euthanised in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park — was a political stunt.

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“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.

“The decisions were taken before consulting with the marine park authority, who issues the permits, and before a full review of the judgment could be made.”

The court upheld an Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling that if the state could not abide by a catch and release program – essentially ending the culling of sharks on drum lines – then it needed to end its program.

Within 24 hours of the ruling, the State Government removed 160 drum lines from 27 beaches, claiming that workers were not trained to deal with live sharks caught on the equipment.

The LNP claims 28 of those drum lines were removed from beaches that were not covered by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling, but it has been denied by Fisheries Minister Mark Furner.

Ms Ley said the Australian Government Solicitor advised there were no legal grounds to remove the drum lines immediately, which she said “lays bare Queensland Labor’s blatant politicising of public safety during the school holiday period”.

“The Queensland Government chose public alarm over personal safety, knowing that any legislative change at a federal level could not be made overnight and knowing that the State Government had sat back for five months since the initial decision without preparing alternative options,” she said.

Mr Furner will today announced the Government will deploy 17 extra drum lines including three new ones off The Strand in Townsville, three off Mackay’s South Lamberts Beach, three off the Mackay Harbour, two off Lammermoor Beach on the Capricorn Coast and six off Gladstone’s Tannum Sands.

He said no drum lines had been removed from outside the authority.