Statement - Camping chaos amid school holiday surge

Statement – Camping chaos amid school holiday surge

5 July 2023.

Victorians wanting to take a school holiday camping trip have hit a roadblock, with Parks Victoria’s online booking system crashing.

With much fanfare, the Andrews Government announced that Parks Victoria’s online booking system had been upgraded, removing the traditional ballot system.

Under the new system, campers should have been able to book instantly for campgrounds across the state, with Parks Victoria’s website assuring Victorians that there would be “no more waiting to hear if a ballot application was successful or not.”

Yet, when the first online booking allocation for campers at Wilsons Promontory National Park opened, they were greeted with a notification that “We have temporarily shut down the booking system in order to conduct an investigation into an issue related to system configuration.”

Shadow Minister for Environment, James Newbury, said Victorians were being punished for the Andrews Government’s incompetence.

“Melbourne’s city streets have been clogged because Labor can’t manage construction projects, and now we learn it can’t get traffic on the online highway under control either,” Mr Newbury said.

“With Parks Victoria’s booking system shutting down on its first day, it turns out it is easier to get a Taylor Swift ticket than book a campsite in Victoria.”

James Newbury, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change