Greens claim public was ‘misled’ by government statement that the EPA had been consulted in drawing up catch-and-kill policy

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The Western Australian Greens say the state government has “misled” the public by claiming it sought advice from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) before announcing its controversial shark cull.



On 27 December last year, the government put out a release saying its drum line policy was the “result of consultation with stakeholders”, including the EPA.

The controversial policy, which allows hunters to kill sharks longer than three metres off the coast off WA, started on 26 January.

But when Lynn MacLaren, a Greens member of the WA upper house, questioned the government in parliament on Wednesday about whether it had consulted with the EPA before drawing up its drum line policy, it said it had not.

The education minister, Peter Collier, said the government’s media release on 27 December “included a reference to the EPA, when it should have more accurately referred to the office of the EPA being advised of the policy following its announcement”.

“It comes as no surprise that the details of how the drum line policy was initiated are starting to unravel,” MacLaren told the Guardian.

“Yesterday’s answers make it clear that the EPA was not consulted, only advised. Premier Barnett’s media release alluding to EPA support was misleading.

“The Barnett government lacks transparency on this matter. Luckily when it comes to the drum lines there are West Australians passionate enough about the issue to question everything. We will continue to do so.”

Earlier in the week the EPA said would not assess the 72 drum lines spread out along the WA coast because the environment impact was expected to be “negligible”.