Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Western Australian division of the Liberal Party is under serious pressure to drop its controversial motion calling on the federal government to de-list the great white shark from the vulnerable species list.
But the motion is being supported, at least partially, by at least one federal WA Liberal senator, in a sign of how pressing the issue of shark culls is in the west, where sharks have killed 15 people in the past 17 years.
Fairfax Media has learned the WA division is being urged to amend or dump the proposal, after the federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg intervened with a pointed opinion piece published in the West Australian on the weeklend, explaining why the proposal would violate international treaties, be impossible to enact and is also unnecessary.
"Since 2002 the great white shark has been listed under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species. As one of the 124 signatories to the convention ??? Australia must provide protection to the great white shark," Mr Frydenberg wrote.
"Therefore, only by removing the shark from the convention, which would require a two-thirds majority of voting members present, can Australia's obligation be rescinded.
"In light of these extensive and complicated domestic and international considerations, it is obvious that the best way forward is for the Western Australian government to take immediate action by supporting drum lines and nets."
As minister, Mr Frydenberg has the power to grant state governments permission to set up nets to stop sharks from reaching beaches, as well as establish so-called "smart drum lines" where sharks are hooked and taken deep out to sea as opposed to killed.
Separately the CSIRO is investigating shark populations around Australia, which environmentalists believe could lead to justify culling the fish.
WA sources said the division had been made to look foolish with its almost-impossible demand that the shark be de-listed, given the minister had been forced to outline the powers that he already holds to allow for shark control measures.
The WA Liberals motion, revealed exclusively by Fairfax Media last week, sets up a potential civil war between sections of the state party membership and the federal party, with both sides at risk of being embarrassed.
If the motion in its current form is debated at the federal council of party delegates in Sydney next month, it will be in defiance of the federal government's public signalling that the motion is unnecessary and politically unhelpful.
Should the motion succeed it will embarrass the federal parliamentary party.
Shark culling is a controversial policy in Western Australia. In 2014 then-Premier Colin Barnett introduced a policy of capturing and killing large sharks caught on baited drum lines. This policy was enacted with the support of the federal Liberal government, with the then-minister Greg Hunt exempting WA from national environment laws to carry out the kills.
But thousands of voters protested against the policy, with huge turnouts in WA, NSW, Victoria and even in New Zealand and South Africa. Labor, which won office in March this year, opposes catch-and-kill policies.
Earlier this month WA fisheries minister Dave Kelly unveiled the new government's shark mitigation strategy, which involves trial rebates for verified shark repellents, grants for councils to install warning systems and drones for aerial shark spotting.
"A total of 13 out of 15 victims of fatal shark attacks in WA since 2000 have been surfers or divers. Faced with these facts, providing these water users with additional protection makes the most sense," he said.
WA senator Linda Reynolds, also deputy chairwoman of the parliamentary committee inquiring into shark mitigation strategies, will request a further hearing be held in Perth later this year to hear from divers, fishers and surfers, who she says will testify that shark numbers have exploded and sharks have become more aggressive over the past decade.
Senator Reynolds backs the motion put forward by the party membership, saying it is an option that should at least be discussed.
"As the federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg observed in his opinion piece in this weekend's West Australian, the experience of Queensland and NSW must not be ignored," she said.
"I am appalled I have to even make this point, but after 15 fatalities in WA over 17 years, enough is enough.
"Preventing shark attacks is the primary responsibility of State and territory governments.".
West Australian backbencher Ian Goodenough told Fairfax Media he also supported the motion, but only if it was backed by science.
"I support the motion, provided that a scientific study shows population numbers have grown, I would support a quota based sustainable shark fishery being re-introduced with appropriate management. This would be preferable to culling without using the resource," he said.
Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said this week that lifesavers dealt with 14 beach drownings a year on average, dwarfing shark attacks, but it received little if any media coverage.
