Media Release - 12 November 2025

Greens Councillor Jess Whittaker has uncovered Wollongong Council was forced to cough up more than $44,000 to recover a nearly 5-tonne whale killed by a NSW Government-managed shark net off the city’s coast last month.

An answer to the Greens’ question on notice indicated that after the NSW Department of Primary Industries failed to secure and recover the deceased animal at sea, it drifted onto rocks at Scarborough, where it became the responsibility of the land manager.

“The responsibility for this horrific incident rests squarely with the NSW Government and the Agriculture Minister’s ineffective shark netting program,” said Whittaker, who is a long-time advocate against shark nets.

“The recovery of the deceased whale placed an immense toll on council staff and caused a work health and safety issue. In addition to this, Wollongong ratepayers are now expected to pick up the $44,043 bill for something the NSW Government mismanaged. It is pretty unreasonable.”

The Ward 1 councillor lauded the Wollongong Council staff who cleaned up the NSW Government’s mess despite being confronted by a dangerous operation.

“The whale could have been handled much more safely at sea when it was first discovered floating in the net,” Cr Whittaker said.

“Removing the animal from slippery rocks amongst the waves and other marine life, including Great White sharks, that had been attracted to the area made it a very challenging and dangerous operation.

“There is a touch of irony that in the end, shark nets, which are supposed to keep swimmers safe, in fact made the areas less safe with the closure of beaches up and down the coast for the week.

“There is strong evidence to suggest this happens on a smaller scale with bi-catch removed by contractors from shark nets, documented to have large bite marks in it when recovered from the nets.”

On Tuesday in NSW Parliament, Greens MLC Cate Faerhmann asked the Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty about a request from Wollongong Council to cover the bill, to which she indicated there was no offer to cover these costs.

Media Statement - 29 October 2025

Comments from Ward 1 Councillor Jess Whittaker on the deceased whale found in Coledale shark net on 28th Oct 2025:

"It was harrowing to see what happened to this magnificent creature off the Illawarra coast, and what makes it all the more heartbreaking is that it was completely preventable.

“Decades of evidence show shark nets are not effective. They are are public safety hazard and they are a hazard to wildlife.

“The nets are essentially loose fishing devices that entangle marine life indiscriminately. This whale is just the latest of thousands of animals, including dolphins, turtles and rays, to be caught up and killed by these outdated nets.

“The NSW government was about to trial removing shark nets at some beaches before the death of a surfer in Sydney. They put the trial on hold, and while the incident was tragic, the government's actions do not make sense, as the beach where this incident occurred had a shark net.

“Premier Chris Minns and Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty need to step in and review the shark net program as well as invest in the state's SharkSmart program. We shouldn't wait until the end of the season when the impact of killer shark nets continues to plague our coasts.”

MEDIA RELEASE - 1 September 2025

Wollongong Ward 1 Greens councillor Jess Whittaker is calling for the $86.4 million dollar Sharksmart program fund to be redirected to non-lethal measures, after the NSW Government announced a “reduced” number of shark nets this season, to be redeployed from today.

Media Release 31 March 2025

Greens Candidate for Cunningham Jess Whittaker is calling for the permanent removal of shark nets off the beaches of Cunningham.

Media Release 20 December 2024

Support for removing shark nets along the NSW coastline is growing with Sutherland Shire Council voting to oppose nets in an annual State government survey.

Greens Candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker is calling on the State Labor Government to keep shark nets out of the water this summer.

Greens State MLC Cate Faehrmann will speak at the award winning documentary, Envoy: Shark Cull, with guest speakers Laura Wells and Dr Rob Brander.

Greens Candidate for Wollongong lord mayor Jess Whittaker said the people of the Illawarra were horrified earlier this year when drone footage showed a bottlenose dolphin fatally entangled in a shark net off Thirroul beach.

“The NSW Labor government is responsible for this silent slaughter of marine life in shark nets because they have refused to take action since winning government and replace this old and cruel technology with evidence-based, environmentally sensitive strategies of shark management,” she said.

“I’ve been concerned about shark nets for a while now, because this approach to management forces us to fight against the environment,” Ms Whittaker said.

“We can’t afford to keep relying on old ways of managing sharks when we know it is harmful and these have been shown to cause a great amount of suffering to native animals.”

Story by Mick Roberts in The Bulli & Clifton Times, 19 June 2024.

Greens Candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker is ramping up calls for the State Government to remove shark nets from all Wollongong beaches before the 2024-2025 swimming season.

"The Greens set up a stall at Thirroul over the weekend to talk to people about shark nets and I can say the community sentiment was overwhelmingly in favour of removing the net," Ms Whittaker said.

"People understand that entering the ocean comes with an element of personal responsibility.

"The community told us that they want the government to stop using outdated technology and focus on methods to reduce risk that are kind to the environment, effective and good value."

Ms Whittaker said the nets should be removed without further ado. "We know that shark nets catch mainly other species other than sharks," she said.

"Shark nets are an old method that don't keep swimmers and surfers safe. The state government needs to remove them from our beaches.

"Just like we educate about swimming between the flags, we can also help reduce the risk of shark interactions by providing advice about not swimming in murky water, at dawn or dusk or when there are bait fish around, as well as guidance on the range of personal shark deterrent devices available."

By Ben Langford in the Illawarra Mercury, 21 March 2024.

“Shark nets are a cruel, outdated form of control that have not been proven to keep swimmers safe,” Ms Whittaker said.

“During the weekend we sadly saw an endangered leatherback turtle tangled in shark nets off Manly Beach, followed shortly after by another very large turtle rescued from the nets at Dee Why. This is unacceptable.

“We know that shark nets catch mainly other species other than sharks. Shark nets are an old method that don’t keep swimmers and surfers safe. The state government needs to remove them from our beaches.”

The $86.4 million dollar Sharksmart program funds a range of measures from drum lines to less invasive drone surveillance that can alert swimmers and surfers to the presence of sharks.

“The program offers education and can also supply trauma kits for a fast response in the event of a shark attack.

“There’s some really great elements in this program that use technology such as drones to warn swimmers of a risk, but currently most of the resources are going into managing drum lines and nets,” Ms Whittaker said.

“The Greens set up a stall at Thirroul over the weekend to talk to people about shark nets and I can say the community sentiment was overwhelmingly in favour of removing the nets. People understand that entering the ocean comes with an element of personal responsibility. Just like we educate about swimming between the flags, we can also help reduce the risk of shark interactions by providing advice about not swimming in murky water, at dawn or dusk or when there are bait fish around, as well as guidance on the range of personal shark deterrent devices available.

“The community told us that they want the government to stop using outdated technology and focus on methods to reduce risk that are kind to the environment, effective and good value. Instead of netting dolphins, rays and endangered turtles off our beaches, we are calling on the State Government to reallocate funds that manage nets, to better resourcing the serious problems that actually are harming the community, such as domestic violence, homelessness and access to healthcare.”

“There are popular beaches right up and down the east coast of NSW that are free from shark nets. Why are they only deployed around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong? If there was a really high, unacceptable risk of shark interactions they would be at every swimming beach. But they’re not. So let’s stop killing marine life on our city beaches with nets that sharks can swim around, and focus on the tools we have that don’t cause harm and actually work,” Ms Whittaker said.

Story by Mick Roberts in The Bulli & Clifton Times, 21 March 2024.