Gold Coast tourism boss says shark nets protect city’s billion-dollar visitor economy

GOLD Coast Tourism boss Paul Donovan says shark nets and drum lines are protecting the city’s $6 billion visitor industry and should remain until a ‘proven’ alternative is found.

GOLD Coast Tourism boss Paul Donovan says shark nets and drum lines are protecting the city’s $6 billion visitor industry and should remain until a “proven” alternative is found.

Mr Donovan said the industry could not afford being hit with the spate of shark attacks like northern NSW, where two people lost their lives in 2014 and 2015.

A dolphin caught in a shark net. Picture: Sea Shepherd

“We can’t afford to have any issues like they did at Lennox Head and Ballina in NSW. Full stop. End of story,” said Mr Donovan, the Gold Coast Tourism chair.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate rejected Sea Shepherd’s claim that the city’s 43 shark nets and drum lines did not work.

“I don’t believe the installation of shark nets is political — it is about public safety,” Cr Tate said.

Mr Donovan said he respected people putting their opinion forward “but there’s got to be an alternative position that’s proven to be successful”.

“Unless there’s something proven as an option why would you change it?

“It’s logic. People apply logic to these things.

“It’s my view that the shark nets are proven to do their job and we can’t afford to have any issues on the Gold Coast.”

He said the safety of beachgoers, over marine life, was the number one priority.

“We’ll do what we can to protect people on the beach,” Mr Donovan said.

“The Gold Coast is about a lot of things, but certainly it’s about what happens on the beaches, we’ve got to protect the people.”