Central Coast Councillor Jared Wright has ramped up calls for State Government action on shark control following the recent release of the International Shark Attack File, which confirmed that Australia recorded the world’s highest total of fatal shark attacks on humans in 2025.

“Of 12 fatalities, nine were from Australia,” Cr Wright said.

He said he had introduced an Urgency Motion on the issue on January 30, following which Council had written to Minister Tara Moriarty to request a meeting about how the two arms of government could work together to help mitigate the risk of shark attacks across the region’s beaches, with no response received to date.

“Even as we head towards the end of Summer, there is a heightened sense of anxiousness in our community about the risk of shark attack and it is important that we are doing everything we can to help keep people safe,” Cr Wright said.

“Speaking to the community over recent weeks and months, there is a clear need for greater action to be taken to reduce our risk of shark attack.

“We have our Council lifeguards on the beach five days per week and it is important that our local beaches have the best available tools and technology to help keep people safe in the water.”

Cr Wright said there had been several shark sightings at Central Coast beaches over the Christmas/New Year holiday period.

“This isn’t about throwing it all back on the NSW Government, it’s about looking at how we can work with them to best protect beachgoers,” he said.

“We need more equipment like drones as soon as possible.

“We don’t want to wait until tragedy strikes before we receive extra funding and resources.

“For example, when the smart drumlines aren’t available on a given day, Council lifeguards could undertake extra patrol work or assist in getting messaging out to the public.

“Drones are inexpensive, easy to use and can be rolled out quickly.

“It’s effective, it doesn’t harm marine life and it provides the community with a sense of comfort and security when they are at the beach.

“The shark listening device at Killcare was offline for many weeks and this put swimmers at greater risk over the Christmas break, when beach visitations were at their peak.

“There is no silver bullet when it comes to mitigating the risk of a shark attack, we need to be using a range of technologies.

“In my view, Avoca Beach is the gold standard here on the Central Coast, they have drone technology, a smart drumline and a shark listening device.

“When coupled together, these more modern and innovative alternatives to shark nets can significantly decrease the risk of a shark attack.”

The Urgency Motion saw Council call on the NSW Government to increase the use of drone technology for shark attack mitigation and request a meeting with Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty.

Council requested an update on the status of the shark listening device at Killcare, an update on the smart drumline program, and an update on the previously proposed trial for removing shark nets and what this might look like for the 2026/27 beach season.

To date no response has been received from the Minister.

This article appeared in Coast Community News, 26 February 2026.