Joint Statement - Caught in a snag: Labor’s plan to ban walking, fishing and swimming across Victoria

Joint Statement – Caught in a snag: Labor’s plan to ban walking, fishing and swimming across Victoria

James Newbury, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change

Bill Tilley, Shadow Minister for Fishing and Boating

19 September 2022.

Victorians walking their dog, taking a swim or wetting their line will be slapped with fines of up to $4000 under the Andrews Labor Government’s new plan to shut off access to more than 50 Victorian parks.

Labor has proposed a set of new extreme laws for Victorians accessing local parkland.

With the current regulations set to expire in March 2023, the new laws would lock land away from the community, introduce heavy-handed fines, and impose a nonsensical permit system.

The new laws will apply to fifty areas of parkland in the country and the city, including places like Albert Park.

One fine equates to $924 for walking off a defined path track – the same someone would pay if driving more than 45km/h over the speed limit.

Other proposed fines include: a $1849 fine for playing sport or engaging in recreational activity without a permit, a $1849 fine for swimming without a permit, a $1849 fine for organising a group of 30 or more to visit without a permit, a $3698 fine for collecting firewood for personal use, and a $3698 fine for interfering with a rock.

This comes on the back of park changes previously outline in Proposed Metropolitan and Regional Parks Regulations, which would ban dogs entirely from several parks.

In an added blow, the Andrews Labor Government will ban all forms of fishing in a number of lakes and rivers right across the state, hooking recreational fishers with a hefty penalty of up to $2000 if caught.

Despite releasing more than 130,000 fish into the Maribyrnong River, Karkarook Park and Albert Park in the past year alone, local children and families will be denied the thrill of their first catch as these waters are closed off completely.

In metropolitan areas, popular local fishing spots at Werribee, Lower Yarra, Maribyrnong and Patterson Rivers are included in the ban, while in regional Victoria, the coastline from Cape Nelson Lighthouse at Portland through Cape Schanck and even Peach Tree Reserve in Gippsland will soon be off limits.

Kerang Park on the Murray River is also listed for change.

Shadow Minister for Environment, James Newbury, said Labor has proposed a loopy set of nanny state laws, which will govern the way the community uses a park.

“The Liberals and Nationals support visitation and engagement with unique natural environments and being jointly invested in protecting the land,” Mr Newbury said.

“Preservation relies on the community being involved and invested in the future of our unique lands.

“We don’t support Labor’s extremism, where a rock will have more rights than you do. The Liberal Party will not allow the draft regulations to proceed in their current form.”

Shadow Minister for Fishing and Boating, Bill Tilley, said banning fishing in park lakes and rivers was senseless, and called on Victorians to write to the new Minister to put a stop to the plans.

“The Andrews Labor Government’s plans to put a stop to families and children fishing in parks is a real slap in the face,” Mr Tilley said.

“You can’t claim to be the recreational fishers’ friend all while planning to ban them from healthy waters filled with fish.

“We should be doing all we can to encourage Victorians to take up fishing, not finding ways to turn them away.”

Bill Tilley, Shadow Minister for Fishing and Boating

James Newbury, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change