Urgent Action Needed - We need your help to keep Drones Up and Shark Nets out along the NSW Coast!

If you live in the New South Wales (NSW) Council areas of Randwick, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie or Sutherland, we ask for your help in calling your Mayor to request the permanent removal of shark nets. Councils are set to make critical decisions about shark net use this week before the next shark net season starts on September 1st.

CONTACTS (all 8am-4pm Mon-Fri)

Newcastle - Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, Ph: 4974 2000

Lake Macquarie - Mayor Kay Fraser, Ph: 4921 0223

Randwick - Mayor Dylan Parker, Ph: 9093 6813

Sutherland - Mayor Carmelo Pesce Ph: 0411 171 114

Though we've provided a suggested script below, please feel free to express your thoughts in your own words. Please be respectful when calling Councils.

SUGGESTED SCRIPT (thanks to AMCS/HSI)

“Hi Mayor/Councillor, thank you for taking my call.

As an elected leader of my Local Government Area, I encourage you to modernise beach safety for humans and wildlife alike by keeping the nets out and the drones up.

For several years now, our state has been using drones, tagging-and-tracking sharks, and has a great SharkSmart education program.

These are all evidence-based solutions that modernise safety standards, making the continued use of shark nets redundant.

We don’t accept 80-year-old safety standards in our homes, our workplaces, our schools, or anywhere, so the beach should not be any different.

Shark bites are tragic events and no one is to blame for them, but there is a responsibility to objectively improve our safety at the beach and this requires using evidence-based approaches.

I do not support the use of shark nets and do not wish to see them back in the water on September 1st.

Thank you for taking my call.”

GOVERNMENT REPORT SHOWS SHARK NETS INEFFECTIVE

This year's 2022/23 NSW Shark Meshing Program performance report is like a broken record – once again, it shows that these nets are causing a lot of unintended casualties like rays, dolphins, turtles, and seals. Even species that are already endangered are being caught and killed. And it's not just that – there's no proof that shark nets provide safety for beachgoers. Either of these points should be enough to shut this program down. The performance report clearly shows a program that offers no value to the community and is only effective at killing harmless animals.

Envoy Foundation's response to the 2022/23 NSW Shark Meshing Program performance report directly asks Minister Tara Moriarty, who is responsible for the shark meshing program, to:

Listen to the scientists

Listen to the people in our communities

Pay attention to what the local councils are saying

It's time for the NSW government to step up and get with the times. We can't let these shark nets ruin our beaches anymore, not on September 1st or ever again. We're living in the 21st century – there are better ways to keep our beaches safe.

For additional information, please email us at netsoutnow@envoy.foundation.