Shark and crocodile controls to save swimmers in Queensland budget

Wild things: crocodiles, sharks, fruit bats and fire ants have all been singled out for spending in Queensland’s state budget.

A Great White Shark. Image: iStock

Drones will be deployed to detect sharks to protect swimmers and surfers in Queensland, at an extra cost of $9.2 million announced in the state budget.

Funding for the shark control program will more than double to $1.3 million in 2023/34, rising to $3 million in 2026/27.

The money will be used to trial the use of drones to track sharks and alert swimmers, as well as education programs and research.

“Keeping the Queensland public safe from crocodiles’’ is another wild-thing initiative in the budget papers, at a cost of $6 million over four years.

The cash will be used for “collaboration and commercialisation of devices to detect and deter crocodiles.’’

Flying fox infestations will be targeted with funds given to local councils to manage urban flying fox roosts.

The government will also boost funding for the fire ant eradication program by $61 million over the next four years.