Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens says Gold Coast at risk of being ‘shark attack central’ if nets are removed from beaches

The city could soon be known as “shark attack central”, according to a southern Gold Coast MP. Here’s why.

The city is at risk of becoming “shark attack central” as fears grow about netting being removed off beaches, state Parliament has been told.

Veteran Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens says Labor wants to appease the Greens and remove the nets, after experimenting with new drumlines.

The Palaszczuk government strongly denies this, but will explore new measures.

Mermaid MP Ray Stevens believes Labor will bow to Green Party demands and remove drumlines.

The warning occurs as a whale last month was successfully freed from a shark net off Kirra. It was the fifth rescue this season and prompted environmental groups to call for the beach protection measures to be removed.

Mr Stevens said he wanted the shark netting regime off the beaches of Mermaid Beach, Nobby Beach, Miami and North Burleigh to remain.

“There are strong indicators that the Labor Party Minister, Mark Furner, is submitting to the Left-wing demands of their Greens Party alliance political partners, whom they cannot win an election without, to remove the nets from Gold Coast beaches,” he said.

Mr Stevens accused Mr Furner of flagging smart drumlines and trials as a smokescreen for acquiescing to Greens Party demands.

Ray Stevens say the Gold Coast will become “shark attack central” without nets.

“But those of us who understand politics know that if the Greens demand the nets be removed, then the Queensland Labor Party will massage the process about how the nets will be removed to satisfy their political partners,” he said.

“The Gold Coast is first and foremost a tourist destination and all measures to ensure the safety and reputation of the Gold Coast should be maintained.

“Yes, there are minor amounts of other sea-life casualties as a result of the netting protective measures, but these are insignificant compared to the damage that would be done to the

Gold Coast if it became known as shark attack central following the loss of human life.”

Mr Stevens admitted the increased whale migration had been a tourism boom and when one whale out of a thousand migrated got caught in a net it was distressing viewing.

He said Sea World had done a magnificent job on freeing whales.

“Increased shark activity following whale migration is another reason to keep the nets in place. You only have to look at the voraciousness of Great Whites feeding on whale carcass blubber to understand how the increased whale numbers would naturally attract more Great Whites following the whale migration.”

Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens. Picture: Liam Kidston.

A record 850 sharks were caught off protected Queensland beaches in the past financial year, almost half of them measuring more than two metres long.

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner told the Bulletin: “Protection of human life will always come first under the Palaszczuk government.

“Suggestions of a deal with the Greens to remove shark nets have no connection with reality. We continue to invest in innovation in the shark control program, but we will make no changes unless we are convinced they can be safe and appropriate in Queensland conditions.

“We are trialling catch-alert drumlines within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park after court action required us to do so.”

September 2020: A boat patrols the city’s shark mitigation gear.

Mr Furner said the LNP committed to installing so-called SMART drumlines in the marine park in 2019, before any such trial had started.

Mr Stevens is convinced the nets will be removed under a political deal.

“The fact that the Queensland Labor Party hold no beachside seats on the Gold Coast worries me greatly as their subjugacy to the Greens Party wishes would have no direct effect on their parliamentary representation as Gaven is their only Gold Coast seat,” he said.

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