Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson Retires After Shark Mitigation Inquiry

Greens senator Peter Whish‑Wilson announced his retirement from the Australian Senate after 14 years, with his seat to be filled by environmental lawyer Vanessa Bleyer in August. He had chaired a landmark Senate inquiry into shark mitigation following the death of a teenage girl by a white shark in Western Australia, concluding that shark nets kill marine life and do not protect swimmers. "It was pretty brutal on a personal level," Whish‑Wilson told AAP.

The senator said he wanted a ban on shark nets before leaving office. The story also references his earlier opposition to the Gunns Tamar Valley pulp mill, his varied background in defence, banking and academia, and his involvement in the parliamentary group that advocated for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.