Roll over Banjo, they're culling your brumbies

According to the ongoing database registry at Tracking Sharks, 2026 has seen a heavily publicised spike in aggressive activity, especially around major city harbors and beaches.

January 2026 saw an extraordinary pattern of four attacks within 48 hours, including a fatal attack on a 12-year-old boy inside Sydney Harbour. Meanwhile, trawler and commercial fishermen across Australia including my own Sunshine Coast territory are reporting an "out-of-control" boom in shark populations, providing firsthand observations that line up with former Prime Minister and new Liberal Party president Tony Abbott’s push to reopen shark fisheries.  Abbott stated, "It’s so wrong that we don't put people before sharks," arguing that state governments cannot prioritize conservation ahead of public safety.

The fishermen say that shark depredation - where sharks steal hooked or netted fish before they can be reeled in - has reached unprecedented levels.

 They are losing expensive gear daily to aggressive sharks trailing their vessels.  Presenters from The Fishing Show on 7Mate report a dramatic increase in reeling up "half-sharks" - smaller sharks that are being aggressively eaten by much larger sharks, a behaviour rarely seen a decade ago. But sharks are protected across all Australian Commonwealth waters (extending from three nautical miles to 200 nautical miles offshore) and inside state-managed marine parks, sanctuaries, and specific refuge areas.

Go figure, as the kids say. And while we are at it, why not add equally deadly cone shells, blue-ringed octopus, box jellies and Irikundji to the protected list,  along with the fully protected crocodiles which are expanding their traditional northern territorial waters with multiple sightings in South East Queensland’s  Mary River and the Fraser Coast.

On dry land, why not add potentially deadly funnelweb and red back spiders to the fully protected snake population reportedly responsible for an average of around 3,000 bites and several human fatalities each year, as well as numerous attacks on dogs and other pets. These can leave worried owners with thousands of dollars in vet bills if the poor animals manage to survive.

And don’t mention dingoes - we can cull them at the drop of a hat if one attacks or approaches a human aggressively on K’Gari (formerly Fraser Island) but aren’t the tourists encroaching on their territory just like those “beautiful” man/woman eaters out in the surf.

When it comes to sharks as usual, I have some skin in the game, having spearfished in my youth along most of the East Coast from northern Reef waters to Port Phillip Bay in the south, with many finned, toothy  encounters along the way. Thankfully these didn’t include the now numerous white pointers which NSW Premier Chris Minns won’t contemplate culling, or I might not be here to tell the tale.

Some of these are recounted in my memoir ramblings linked at the foot of this contribution, but regarding the brumbies, I’ll leave the final words  to the immortal Banjo after the fabled “Colt from Old Regret”  ran off to join the wild brumbies and his brilliant poem describing the chase became part of the colourful fabric of our nation. It also inspired an iconic movie in 1982: The Man from Snowy River by A B Banjo Paterson - Famous poems, famous poets. - All Poetry

…But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head,
And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer,
And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed,
While the others stood and watched in very fear.
He sent the flint-stones flying, but the pony kept his feet,
He cleared the fallen timbers in his stride,
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat,
It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride….

…And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raise
Their torn and rugged battlements on high,
Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze
At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,
And where around the Overflow the reed -beds sweep and sway
To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,
The man from Snowy River is a household word today,
And the stockmen tell the story of his ride.