2025-09-18
The Greens call on the Albanese government to remove existing exemptions to state-controlled shark cull programs that threaten federally protected marine wildlife*.
The call comes after a mother humpback whale and calf were tragically entangled overnight in a net deployed as part of Queensland’s shark cull program.
Distressing footage shows the whales heavily entangled in a net they had dragged approximately 100km from Rainbow Beach to Hervey Bay – the world's first Whale Heritage Site. The horrific incident comes as the Queensland LNP Government plans a major expansion of shark nets used in its shark cull program.
Quotes attributable to Australian Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
“This is government-sanctioned animal cruelty. Even though the whales are now freed, the trauma from this horrific ordeal threatens their survival.
“Shark nets are fisheries devices that are untargeted weapons of mass destruction to precious marine wildlife, and evidence shows they don’t make our beaches safe and can even attract sharks to beaches.
“This cruelty has gone on too long. The Greens call on the federal government to use its upcoming commitment to reform Australia's environmental laws to remove existing exemptions to state-controlled shark cull programs that risk federally protected species.”
Quotes attributable to Queensland Greens MP for Maiwar, Michael Berkman:
“Not only is the LNP Government bankrolling a huge shark cull in Queensland waters, but they’re spending millions of taxpayer dollars on these traps for whales and other precious marine life.
“For years, both major parties have pursued a shark control program in Queensland that’s driven by blind ideology and politics, not evidence. Why are we persisting with these outdated nets and drumlines that do more to harm marine life than they do to protect swimmers?
“The LNP needs to listen to the experts, end the politically-motivated expansion of Queensland’s shark cull, and replace nets with evidence-based technologies. At the very least, nets should be removed during whale migration season.”
* Humpback whales are federally protected under the EPBC Act. Shark nets are currently used in Queensland via a loophole in the EPBC Act, officially known as section 43B.