Tuesday, 29 October 2024

San Remo Jetty

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (22:38): (1222) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Ports and Freight, and it relates to public and workplace safety issues on the San Remo Jetty in Bass Coast. The action I seek from the minister is to commit to improving public and workplace safety at the San Remo Jetty by adopting a plan put forward by the fisherman’s co-op, and to do so as soon as possible before there is human tragedy.

This jetty is managed by Parks Victoria, and it is shared by commercial fishing, recreational boating and ferry traffic. Indeed it is a very busy jetty, and it hosts wildlife cruise departures, a refuelling station, land-based anglers, swimmers, jetty jumpers, locals and tourists, all mixed into one space and a recipe for disaster. In the summertime the region’s population quadruples.

The jetty is an integral part of the fisherman’s co-op. The fisherman’s co-op has an annual turnover of between $4 million and $5 million, employing up to 60 people – the town’s largest employer. The 30-member co-op runs a fleet of 12 vessels. Compounding this problem is something of the government’s own making, because it closed the Newhaven jetty, only a few hundred metres away. That was due to lack of maintenance, lack of interest and lack of care by the Labor government. As such, the recreational anglers have moved to the San Remo Jetty.

There is a solution, and it has come from the general manager of the co-op, Wolfgang Platzer. He proactively presented Parks Victoria with a comprehensive plan to separate the public access and commercial activities, but to date there has been no inclination to work with the co-op. My estimation is that Parks Victoria is frustrated with the Labor government’s obfuscation. Six months ago WorkSafe wrote to the co-op speaking about the rise in incidents in relation to drownings and hypothermia at Victoria’s marinas, reminding them of their obligation in relation to OH&S. The co-op have even put forward a sensible solution and are prepared to pay for it, and they want to ensure that the commercial fishers can keep working in a safe environment, as can the visitors and recreational fishers. So the action, again, I seek from the minister is for the minister to adopt the plan put forward and do so as soon as possible – by 1 December if absolutely she can – before there is a human tragedy.