Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's time for the Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, to find where her spine is located and sack the fisheries minister, Mark Furner, for the deception and misinformation he and his state Labor colleagues have been trumpeting over the shark drum lines saga. The advice from the Australian Government Solicitor couldn't be clearer—the drum lines never had to be removed. Furner and others have been citing the Cardno report to back up the decision to remove them after last month's Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision. This begs the question: have they actually read it? They claim that the report made it clear that the catch-and-release method, forced on us by the AAT and the Federal Court after action by the Humane Society International, just can't work in the marine park. Actually, the report stated:

We have concluded that there is merit in a limited trial of SMART drumlines—

and that Cairns, Townsville and Mackay are all appropriate trial sites. That means the drum lines can go back in and that state Labor must also trial other, non-lethal methods.

Furner also says:

The solution is clearer than ever – the Federal Government must legislate to allow our long-standing catch-and-remove program back in to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

But the court orders did not demand a removal of the drum lines, only that they be checked more frequently, non-target species be released, and target species be tagged and relocated. The orders allow drum lines to remain in the water catching sharks during this time—those found alive can be removed and relocated offshore—while other modern technology is trialled and implemented progressively.

New South Wales and WA run successful and safe tag-and-release programs. Contractors in those states are trained and safely operate tag-and-release relocation every day. There is no reason that Queensland contractors cannot perform the same tasks up to the same safety standards. GBRMPA has already issued a new permit to the Queensland government for the operation of drum lines in the marine park, in accordance with AAT orders, but have they bothered to put them back in? They have not. That's the problem with state Labor: they put politics over people.

All levels of government should be working together to address the issue. It's now been more than three weeks since the drum lines were removed and more than six months since they lost their first case—plenty of time to plan for this outcome. The appropriate course of action for Premier Palaszczuk is clear: put the drum lines back in the water, sack Minister Furner and start caring about the safety of Queenslanders.