Shark cull under attack

Warnbro residents were among more than 4000 West Australians who gathered at Cottesloe Beach on Saturday morning to rally against the State Government’s controversial shark cull policy.

West Australians for Shark Conservation founder Ross Weir, who was first to address protesters on Saturday morning, said the unprecedented turnout highlighted the feeling of disgust caused by Premier Colin Barnett’s decision to use drum-lining techniques to capture sharks at selected swimming beaches.

He said the Government solution was an old-fashioned approach to a modern problem.

“The Government thinks that it is prioritising the lives of the people of this State — but in actual fact Mr Barnett is endangering the lives of swimmers further and increasing the risk of shark attack,” Mr Weir said.

“We are faced with a premier who has his head in the sand and who is trying to solve a modern problem in a very oldfashioned way.”

Warnbro resident Rebecca Grant, who attended Saturday’s protest, said it was ludicrous to hunt animal species so people could enjoy swimming.

She said there were other ways to minimise the risk of shark attack, such as avoiding surfing and diving, or using identification methods.

“If we went into the jungle... we’d expect to come across tigers, but people would be outraged if the Government began killing them simply so we could walk in the jungle in safety,” Ms Grant said.

Mr Weir said figures from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, showed drum-lining had, in fact, killed larger numbers of harmless marine species like dolphins and whales, than it had predatory sharks.

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