The Australian Greens are seeking to introduce a bill that will put
an end to Western Australia’s controversial shark cull.
The WA Government have implemented the cull in response to a series of fatal shark attacks
off the shores of Western Australia. The cull, they say, is in place to protect swimmers
and surfers and will run until 30 April 2014. Under the trial programme, any bull, tiger,
or great white shark larger than three metres that is caught on baited drum lines
a kilometre off the metropolitan and southwest coast has been shot dead,
and then dumped further out at sea.
Ordinarily, it would have been illegal to carry out such a cull, but in this case it was able to proceed
as Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt granted the WA Government with an exemption
from the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, agreeing that it was
in the national interest.
However the cull has been met with anger from members of the public, and from political party the Greens.
Greens leader Senator Christine Milne spoke out against the cull, saying that the exemption
has set a very dangerous precedent. “Past exemptions,” she says, “have only been granted
for the purposes of defence, security or national emergencies, like bushfires or floods,
but not for the active culling or killing of a vulnerable species.”
The Greens argue that most sharks caught have been tiger sharks, and not the great whites
that are blamed for the attacks on people off the coast of the region. Critics of the cull also argue
that the method of killing the sharks is cruel and counter-productive, as it draws sharks closer to the shore in order to eat the bait that is used to lure them in.
To fight against the cull, the Greens are seeking to push through their Save our Sharks Bill which,
if successful, would end the cull and prevent Environment Minister Greg Hunt from granting
another exemption in the future for the purposes of using drum lines to catch sharks.
In a poll commissioned by the Greens it was found that 57 per cent of WA voters
thought the Federal Government should halt the cull, with 38 per cent strong agreeing.
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