Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith today extended her sympathy to Seneca Rus, the man bitten by a shark off Sharpes Beach.
“I wish him a speedy recovery and my thoughts go out to everyone in our region who has been affected by shark attacks,” Ms Smith said.
“I do not believe that shark nets will improve safety for swimmers or surfers at our beaches. Bondi Beach for example has shark nets and surfers are still attacked there.”
Ms Smith was responding to NSW Premier Mike Baird’s announcement that he would be asking the Federal Government for a six month trial of shark nets in the Far North NSW Coast beaches.
“I call on the Premier of New South Wales to fund a shark spotting program by local group Shark Watch and to invest in developing technologies that go with surfers to improve their safety.”
“I ask the Premier to consider the safety of all ocean users and to fund non-lethal methods such as shark spotting instead of thinking only about his poll numbers and trying to win the next election.”