Last week, the Queensland Fisheries Minister Mark Furner announced they have no plans to replace shark nets, despite their own Scientific Working Group recommending this over a year ago.

This is not where we give up, this is where we fight harder.   

With an increasing level of public awareness and a push towards safer, more humane programs, this is the perfect moment for the Government to reconsider the controversial netting & drumline program. Instead, they have decided to play into the politics of fear and misinformation around sharks and the efficacy of their outdated program, doubling down on it instead of modernising it. 

This flies in the face of all supporting evidence, including their own. In 2019 Humane Society International won a court case to end shark culling in the Great Barrier Reef. The pivotal moment of the trial came when the Government’s own expert witness admitted under oath that lethal shark culling programs do not work (eg: their current program), and he would never recommend or advocate them. If the program ended tomorrow, there would be no different made to human safety. All this culling, for nothing. 

It's time to fight. Share this petition, watch Envoy: Shark Cull, and ask that everyone you know does the same. Let's get to 100,000 signatures as soon as possible. The opposition to this cull needs to be so vocal they can't ignore us.   

Image: AMCS/HSI/N McLachlan