A new study by University of Sydney public policy expert Dr Christopher Pepin-Neff found that politicians manipulate shark bites incidents to influence public sentiment and protect their own interests.
The 10-year study, published in Pepin’s new book, Flaws: Shark Bites and Emotional Public Policymaking, analyzed public attitudes towards sharks and how emotions are pitted against evidence-based policymaking in the wake of incidents where sharks bite humans.
“Shark bites can have tragic outcomes that directly affect sections of the public,” he said. “However, from an objective evidence-based analysis, what we are seeing is not a reasonable response but a theatrical political process, whereby an isolated and individual human tragedy is made worse when these incidents are politicised and sensationalised by the media.”
Pepin-Neff analyzed policy changes following shark bite incidents in Australia, South Africa and the US. He found policymaking in the public interest using scientific evidence was often secondary to political motivations.
“For example, I found that in Florida and New South Wales, sharks had been portrayed as the enemy, shark bites were seen as intentional, and policy responses appear to be based on public safety,” he said. “However, this is not reflective of what the scientific evidence tells us that shark bites are ungovernable accidents of nature.”
Pepin-Neff pointed to the shark culls in Wales, Queensland and Western Australia that were implemented by politicians despite overwhelming opposition from the public.
“The public deserves better following tragedies than politicians trying to protect themselves,” he said. “The time has come for our policymakers to do better and to stop providing a false sense of security.”
Flaws: Shark Bites and Emotional Public Policymakingwill be launched at the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium on Tuesday 16 April. This event is sponsored by the Sydney Environment Institute, the Department of Government and International Relations, School of Social and Political Sciences, and the SEA LIFE Trust.