Premier right to kill sharks: Campbell
Former Federal environment minister Ian Campbell says the silent majority backed Premier Colin Barnett's drum-line policy and still believe the State is right to catch and kill sharks.
And the Howard government minister said yesterday it would be "really stupid" for the Commonwealth to permit shark killing in NSW and Queensland but not WA when it made its official ruling on the State's shark mitigation policy.
WA's Environmental Protection Authority last week recommended the policy of baiting 72 drum lines off metropolitan and South West beaches between November 15 and April 30 not go ahead this summer.
Mr Barnett has accepted the recommendation but still wants Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt to assess the policy, despite ditching drum lines in favour of pre-emptively targeting "rogue" sharks that menace beaches.
CULLING IS ONLY SOLUTION: SURFER | END TO DRUM LINES 'NO SURPRISE' | FULL COVERAGE
Mr Campbell, an advisory board member of activist group Sea Shepherd who does not share its opposition to drum lines, said most people had faith that the drum-line policy was aimed at protecting them.
"None of us like seeing innocent sea creatures getting hurt, which is clearly what happened, but most people in the comfort of their lounge rooms or sitting on the beach would have thought, 'Well, we've got to do something, and that's something'," Mr Campbell said.
"It upset my friends at Sea Shepherd, but an equal number of people I know well who are surfers at Yallingup and people who go to Cottesloe - who I would still think are the overwhelming silent majority - think that the Premier is doing the right thing."
The former WA senator said he believed it would have been "incredibly difficult" for Mr Barnett to ignore the EPA recommendation.
"What he's now got to do is say, 'What other strategies are there'. That's the most important thing," Mr Campbell said.
Mr Barnett last week predicted the Commonwealth would reject drum lines, amounting to "one rule for the east coast and another for the west coast".
Mr Hunt told _The West Australian _ he would carefully study the EPA report, his department's advice and public submissions in forming a decision.
Mr Campbell said: "As a former Federal minister, I just can't contemplate how that advice could differ from one jurisdiction to another when you are dealing with the same species."
NSW uses shark nets and Queensland has used a combination of nets and drum lines since 1962.
