Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Siewert for that question. In fact, I had been wondering how long it would take before the Greens would ask me a question about this issue. Let me just say at the outset that we support the efforts of the WA state government to protect human life and to improve public safety on Western Australian shores. That is why Minister Hunt has provided a limited and temporary exemption from the application of the EPBC Act to the WA government. There is no doubt that the increased risk of shark strikes in Western Australia is a public safety matter of national significance. There have been seven tragic deaths in just three years.

Australia has a strong beach culture and the federal government agrees with the Western Australian government that public safety and the protection of human life are paramount, particularly during the height of summer. That is why the government has decided that it is in the national interest to provide that temporary exemption for the WA government from the relevant provisions—