How Governments exempted themselves from over a hundred and fifty million dollars in fines for killing protected species
- Ali Be
- Jan 27
- 4 min read
For decades, the New South Wales and Queensland Governments have run lethal shark-control programs under the banner of ‘beachgoer safety’, despite clear evidence that culling does nothing to reduce shark-bite risk.
The continuation of these programs is seemingly only to protect politicians from media backlash, not to protect beachgoers from sharks. Thousands of animals are killed annually, and millions of people given a false sense of security, for the political comfort of a handful of Ministers.
What’s almost never discussed about this however, is the true financial liability these programs would face, if governments were held to the same wildlife-protection laws as everyone else in society.
These programs remain financially viable only because governments have carved out legal exemptions for themselves - loopholes that shield their agencies from the fines, penalties, and even jail time that any ordinary person would face for harming the very same protected wildlife.
Without these loopholes, the deliberate (or accidental) harm of protected species would attract the same penalties applied to any other person or organisation, and for the first time, we’ve calculated what that would actually cost.
Under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) and the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (QLD), the marine wildlife killed by these programs would have attracted the following penalties if governments were subject to their own laws:
NSW - since 2016: Approximately $122,492,000* in fines
QLD - since 1992: Approximately $33,594,375* in fines (*details and specifications outlined below)
Together, the NSW and QLD programs would have incurred more than $155 million in fines under their own conservation laws, a cost hidden entirely by government exemptions.
This is an extreme cost for a program that continues to fail beachgoers, devastate marine ecosystems, and undermine public trust.
Whilst the NSW and QLD government’s are never going to fine their own Fisheries departments, it is a powerful way to illustrate what the consequences would be for anyone else who caused this much environmental harm.
Financial Penalties Under NSW and QLD Conservation Laws
To illustrate just how costly these lethal shark-control programs would be if governments were subject to the same laws as everyone else, we calculated the hypothetical fines for only a limited number of protected animals caught in NSW and QLD. These figures are based on the relative penalty rates set out in each State’s own conservation legislation and the documented catch records from their shark-control programs.
New South Wales:
Although the NSW Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program has been operating since 1937, the first Threatened Species Act came into effect in 1995, followed by the Biodiversity Conservation Act in 2016. For this reason, our calculations cover the period between 1995 and April 2025.
Between 1995 and 2016, penalties were calculated based on the Threatened Species Act 1995:
One penalty unit was on average $110–$120 (depending on year).
1000 penalty units were taken as an average for each marine animal harmed
From 2016 onwards - under the Act, penalties for harming marine wildlife vary according to the species’ conservation status:
TIER 1 - Threatened / Endangered / Critically Endangered: $330,000 per offence
TIER 3 - Vulnerable: $88,000 per offence
Based on the documented catch recorded in NSW shark nets during this period, the estimated penalties would have been:
Between 1995 and 2016;
1000 (penalty units) x 260 (animals harmed) x $100 (per unit) = ~$26,000,000
From 2016 onwards;
202 TIER 1 species x $330,000 = ~$66,660,000
339 TIER 3 species x $88,000 = ~$29,832,000
Total hypothetical fines: ~$122,492,000
Fines calculated for the animals caught by NSW shark nets include: Grey Nurse Shark, White SharkHumpback Whale, Dolphin, Australia Fur Seal, Green Turtles, Hawksbill Turtle, Leatherback Turtle, Loggerhead Turtle.
Queensland:
Although Queensland’s Shark Control Program has been operating since 1962, the Nature Conservation Act did not come into effect until 1992. Accordingly, our calculations cover the period between January 1992 and August 2025. Under the Act, the penalty for harming a protected species is:
Harm towards a protected species - $14,375 per offence
Based on the documented catch recorded in the QSCP’s lethal nets and drumlines during this timeframe, protected species caught include: Grey Nurse Sharks, Great White Sharks, Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Dugongs, Flatback, Green, Hawksbill, Leatherback and Loggerhead Turtles.
Using the standard penalty of $14,375 per protected animal, the total fines for the 2,337 documented protected species caught between 1992 and 2025 would have amounted to:
2337 protected animals × $14,375 = ~$33,594,375
In reality, legal loopholes have exempted the NSW and QLD Governments from over one hundred million dollars, but haven’t been proven as competent by any measure when it comes to beachgoer safety, whilst harming tens of thousands of marine life in the process.
Considering the lost value of marine life alone, roughly over $155 million, the financial justification for lethal programs collapses entirely.
But the fines alone only tell part of the story. We have not accounted for the cascading ecological costs of removing apex predators, the long-term damage to coastal ecosystems, the economic fallout and harm to the Australian coastal tourism sector when these killings are broadcast globally on social media or in documentaries like Envoy: Shark Cull (2021), or the immeasurable loss of thousands of sentient marine lives. When those additional factors are considered, the true cost rises far beyond a quarter of a billion dollars.
Importantly, even these fine calculations use highly conservative penalty figures. Only a limited number of species and minimum applicable penalty tiers have been included in the calculations. Under a more comprehensive assessment, the cumulative penalties would likely exceed a quarter of a billion dollars by a significant margin.
The real legal ramifications, had governments not exempted themselves, would have arguably been exponentially greater.
The future of beach safety is modern, non-lethal, and backed by science. It’s time for policymakers to stop hiding behind outdated exemptions and finally catch up.
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