BACKGROUND INFORMATION
about NATALIE
Natalie grew up in Melbourne, Australia at a time where the advocacy of world peace and the environmentalist movement were prominent. In 1988, her family moved to Perth, Western Australia where she went on to become a qualified Journalist at Murdoch University. After short stints in Radio Journalism at MIX 94.5 and as a print Journalist with the Community Newspaper Group, Natalie went on to become a media adviser for Members of Parliament as well as State and Local Government.
Natalie was in her late 20s when she first donned a mask, snorkel and fins, but fell deeply in love with the marine environment, quickly going on to receive her Open Water Scuba Diving Certification (where her first open water dive was with a whale shark). Her love of the ocean and the marine environment saw Natalie work all the way up to being a PADI certified Scuba Diving Instructor.
​
In 2013, Natalie heard that the Western Australian Government were looking to introduce a policy to cull sharks as a result of 16 fatalities in 11 years. Instinctively, Natalie knew this was not the answer to the situation and decided that she needed to take action.
THE LETTER
On the afternoon of Tuesday, 10 December 2013, after the Barnett Government announced its "new measures" to reduce human-shark interactions, Natalie sent an email out to her scuba diving contacts, Sea Shepherd representatives and various politicians calling for "drastic action" to stop the drum lines from being introduced into Western Australia's coast. She also set up a Facebook event page and inivited everyone she knew to attend a rally on Saturday, 4 January 2014, to protest the drum line initiative. Natalie's initial thoughts were that it would be great to have around 50 people attend, wtih her scuba divng contacts making up the largest contingent on the day. News of the rally quickly spread on social media however and by the end of the day, over 600 people had already indicated that they would be attending. Additionally, the Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia, Jeff Hansen and the Founder of the Western Australians for Shark Conservation (WASC), Ross Weir had stated that they would be willing to speak on the day. The rally also attracted the attention of two ladies, Julie Lowe and Cathy Gilmore, who set up events and found coordinators to make the rally go Australia-wide.
As participants to the rally grew, it was apparent to Natalie that she needed assistance from like-minded people to help run ideas by. High school student, Chloe McDonald was her first choice, as Chloe had also planned a rally against the drum lines to take place in February. Luke Dickenson also came on board after showing his passion for the cause, and became good support for Natalie, when planning the rally. Additionally, Donna Chapman, who runs her own design company called Red Cloud Design kindly offered to assist with the rally signs, t-shirt designs, logo, posters and promotional materials.
​
As the day of the rally grew closer, more people came on board to assist Natalie in the planning and promotion of the rally, including those who donated funds to the crowd-funding campaign to raise $2,500 to secure a sound system, security, printed signs and a bus to transport people to and from the train station and Cottesloe Beach.
​
Around 5,000 people attended the rally in Cottesloe, with approximately 10,000 people rallying around Australia. The complete list of speakers at the Cottesloe rally were: Ross Weir (WASC) Jeff Hansen (Sea Shepherd Australia), Lynn McLaren MLC (Western Australian Greens), Senator Rachel Siewert (Federal Greens), Dave Kelly MLA (Wstern Australian Labor Party) and Tim Nichol (Vice-President Conservation Council of Western Australia).
​
This was the first rally of many and ultimately saw a #noWAsharkcull movement grow internationally. Special thanks to Shayne Thompson for his projector and videography skills, Lee Johnson from Perth Scuba for his advice and sign, Grant McIntosh for his divemaster skills, Skye Peel for her shark costume skills, Katrina Love for her bus driving skills and Shannon Hore for all of his support.
Sound system provided by Andrew Greenham (Greenox) and security provided by MPire.
BEYOND THE RALLIES
Natalie Banks with Western Australian Environmental Protection Agency Chair Paul Vogel
After the rallies had taken place and the trial of drum lines in Western Australia looked set to continue, Natalie focussed on ensuring that the community raised their objections to the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (WA EPA). This involved an educative campaign on the process of making a submission and examples of what to include in the submission. The result was a record-breaking number of submissions into the WA EPA.
Seeing that there were gaps in knowledge about shark cull mitigation programs, Natalie wanted to highlight the alternative options available to drum lines and shark nets in order to mitigate risks associated with shark encounters. As a result, Natalie organised a range of ocean safety forums where specialists and scientists were invited to speak about specific options, providing the opportunity for attendees to ask questions and highlight any concerns. These forums were highly educative and successfully gained media attention, which wrote various articles about the alternatives.
​
​
​
​
​
​
In October 2014, Natalie was successful in raising over $7,000 for a local shark bite survivor to assist with his recovery. This act not only showed her desire to help others, but was an additional way of highlighting how the shark cull had failed the people. The Barnett Government needed to do better and focus on the alternative solutions available.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Greens Member of Parliament Lyn MacLaren with inventor of the Eco Shark Barrier, Craig Moss at a Shark Safety Forum organised by Natalie Banks.
Dave Smith showcasing his SharkSmart Technology for surfers at a Shark Safety Forum organised by Natalie Banks.
In her most publicised effort to get alternatives endorsed by Governments across Australia, Natalie arranged for representatives of a successful shark mitigation strategy in Cape Town, South Africa to visit Australia and assess some of its most popular beaches to implement a similar program. The strategy also involved meeting key stakeholder representatives and community members while they were visiting the area in order to answer any concerns or to simply provide further information. Operating for 14 years, the Shark Spotters program in Cape Town takes place at beaches where the second largest aggregation point of white sharks meet with some of the most popular beaches in South Africa, with little shark bite activity due to dedicated spotters, education, research, medical training, topology, sandy-bottom sea floors and a system of flags and alarms. This initiative was successfully managed and resulted in both community and media interest as well as pressure on Governments to implement a similar program, with the Byron Bay Shire in northern New South Wales implementing a shark spotting trial.
​
This trial took place in late 2016 and proved that shark spotting would be a viable option at beaches with the necessary attributes. The trial also saw the introduction of an acute shark attack medical kit, which Natalie compiled with advise from representatives of Shark Spotters and a medical paramedic. An introductory video on how to use the equipment in the kit can be seen here.
Natalie Banks with Monwabisi Sikweyiya and Sarah Waries from Shark Spotters, South Africa at Parliament House, Brisbane, Queensland.
Natalie has now become an adviser on shark matters, assisting Government officials, the community and not-for-profit groups to understand the facts about shark culling and the alternatives options. Her research has seen her called twice as a witness to Government inquiries and she is often sought for advice by various groups which have similar interest in shark conservation. This has included Humane Society International, White Shark Video, Emirates Diving Association, Nature Conservation New South Wales, The Australian Greens Political Party, The Western Australian Labor Party, Sea Shepherd Australia, Sea Shepherd Global and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Photo: Natalie Banks with Western Australian Labor Fisheries Minister, Dave Kelly.