❓ A WA parliament member questions the Minister for Fisheries about plans to protect swimmers from shark attacks, following a recent fatal attack and criticism of the government's response. The Minister outlines existing shark mitigation strategies.
AnsweredQoN 723Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SHARKS — HAZARD MITIGATION
723. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Fisheries:
I refer to the recent comments by Mr
Ben Foo-Collyer, who lost his mother to a shark attack. He said that we have management policies for everything else, but not
this and that it is easy for the government and Premier Mark McGowan to
say sorry and have sympathy, but they have really done nothing. What is the
minister's plan to protect Western Australians swimming close to shore
from shark attacks this summer, especially given that the SMART drum lines
trial has ended?
723. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Fisheries:
I refer to the recent comments by Mr
Ben Foo-Collyer, who lost his mother to a shark attack. He said that we have management policies for everything else, but not
this and that it is easy for the government and Premier Mark McGowan to
say sorry and have sympathy, but they have really done nothing. What is the
minister's plan to protect Western Australians swimming close to shore
from shark attacks this summer, especially given that the SMART drum lines
trial has ended?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
I would also like to again express
in this house our sadness at the tragic loss of Mr Paul Millachip, and
certainly all members in this place extend
their sympathy to his family and to all the first responders who responded on
the day and subsequently, and
particularly to the young boys who worked so hard to clear the beach and try to
do what they could. I think they acted very heroically, and we can be
very proud of them.
I stood in this place on a number of
occasions and talked about the government's plan to help reduce the
risk of a shark attack. We know that we cannot fully stop a shark attack; that
is never going to happen, but we can do our best to reduce the risk, and we
have reduced that risk by a number of things that are in place. The first is
that we have a comprehensive tagging and research program to tag white sharks
and link the reception of those tags to the SharkSmart app to provide real-time
analysis of where the sharks might be. The SharkSmart app is supported by a number of people who report sharks when they see
them, so we have public sightings. They also report the incidents that we know are likely to trigger and attract
sharks, such as whale carcasses that decay on beaches, and alert people to that information. The first step is providing information and encouraging
people to use the SharkSmart app. It is
important when entering the water to be aware of what is happening. That is the
first one—providing information.
The second is that we have a number
of steps to improve safety outcomes for people, including the personal shark
deterrent devices that have been in place for some time with a subsidy and
beach enclosures. A number of local governments
have taken the option for beach enclosures to reinforce an area and make sure
that sharks cannot actually reach it.
We have also put in place beach emergency numbers. That measure is designed to
make sure that the response is as speedy as possible should somebody be
attacked, because we know that if someone is attacked, urgent medical
assistance and first aid, particularly to stop bleeding, can be very
significant for the victim's survival. Getting that response in place
quickly is a critical part of the plan.
Another part of the plan is having a
response unit that is well rehearsed in terms of practising scenarios. In this unfortunate situation, St John Ambulance was
advised at around 10.05 am on Saturday and within 30 minutes there were vessels in the area and people on site. The
beaches were closed and people got out of the water. I thank all those people who responded quickly by getting out of the
water. That is not always the case. That response unit meant that we
were able to activate the response measures and make sure that people were safe
immediately.
In
the member's own electorate, we recently installed, at the request of
the local government, two shark alarm units . They will be automated in
the near future. At the moment, they are manually operated to give a warning
when a shark receiver detects a shark within an area. There is a series of
shark-alert towers along the coast between here and Esperance as part of the
entire network that involves tagging sharks and having a receiver network to
then predict where the sharks will be and activate warnings appropriately. The
member knows that Western Australia has a very, very large coastline. We work
hard to address popular swimming beaches. That is reflected in the shark aerial patrols that the state has put in place in
partnership with Surf Life Saving Western Australia, which patrol the coast from Mandurah to the northern beaches. We also have a south west
helicopter patrol service that services the southern
beaches in the south west. For special events, we partner with Surf Life Saving
WA to make sure additional resources are put in place to safeguard the
public.
The plan and response is very comprehensive, recognising that we cannot eliminate
the total risk of shark attacks, but we will
continue to do everything we can to make sure that the public is informed and
that the response is adequate , responsive and does its very best to make
sure that people are safe in the water.
I would also like to again express
in this house our sadness at the tragic loss of Mr Paul Millachip, and
certainly all members in this place extend
their sympathy to his family and to all the first responders who responded on
the day and subsequently, and
particularly to the young boys who worked so hard to clear the beach and try to
do what they could. I think they acted very heroically, and we can be
very proud of them.
I stood in this place on a number of
occasions and talked about the government's plan to help reduce the
risk of a shark attack. We know that we cannot fully stop a shark attack; that
is never going to happen, but we can do our best to reduce the risk, and we
have reduced that risk by a number of things that are in place. The first is
that we have a comprehensive tagging and research program to tag white sharks
and link the reception of those tags to the SharkSmart app to provide real-time
analysis of where the sharks might be. The SharkSmart app is supported by a number of people who report sharks when they see
them, so we have public sightings. They also report the incidents that we know are likely to trigger and attract
sharks, such as whale carcasses that decay on beaches, and alert people to that information. The first step is providing information and encouraging
people to use the SharkSmart app. It is
important when entering the water to be aware of what is happening. That is the
first one—providing information.
The second is that we have a number
of steps to improve safety outcomes for people, including the personal shark
deterrent devices that have been in place for some time with a subsidy and
beach enclosures. A number of local governments
have taken the option for beach enclosures to reinforce an area and make sure
that sharks cannot actually reach it.
We have also put in place beach emergency numbers. That measure is designed to
make sure that the response is as speedy as possible should somebody be
attacked, because we know that if someone is attacked, urgent medical
assistance and first aid, particularly to stop bleeding, can be very
significant for the victim's survival. Getting that response in place
quickly is a critical part of the plan.
Another part of the plan is having a
response unit that is well rehearsed in terms of practising scenarios. In this unfortunate situation, St John Ambulance was
advised at around 10.05 am on Saturday and within 30 minutes there were vessels in the area and people on site. The
beaches were closed and people got out of the water. I thank all those people who responded quickly by getting out of the
water. That is not always the case. That response unit meant that we
were able to activate the response measures and make sure that people were safe
immediately.
In
the member's own electorate, we recently installed, at the request of
the local government, two shark alarm units . They will be automated in
the near future. At the moment, they are manually operated to give a warning
when a shark receiver detects a shark within an area. There is a series of
shark-alert towers along the coast between here and Esperance as part of the
entire network that involves tagging sharks and having a receiver network to
then predict where the sharks will be and activate warnings appropriately. The
member knows that Western Australia has a very, very large coastline. We work
hard to address popular swimming beaches. That is reflected in the shark aerial patrols that the state has put in place in
partnership with Surf Life Saving Western Australia, which patrol the coast from Mandurah to the northern beaches. We also have a south west
helicopter patrol service that services the southern
beaches in the south west. For special events, we partner with Surf Life Saving
WA to make sure additional resources are put in place to safeguard the
public.
The plan and response is very comprehensive, recognising that we cannot eliminate
the total risk of shark attacks, but we will
continue to do everything we can to make sure that the public is informed and
that the response is adequate , responsive and does its very best to make
sure that people are safe in the water.
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