Better Boating Victoria names a boat-friendly chief executive

According to the government, Gaffney will bring “a wealth of public sector knowledge, strategic management and leadership skills” to the newly created role.

“His substantial experience working with local stakeholders will be key in delivering the government’s commitments to make boating easier, safer and cheaper for all Victorians,” Better Boating Victoria said in a statement.

The new chief executive is tasked with "charting a course to make Victoria a premier recreational boating for the future”.

One of his challenges will be enacting the government’s 2018 election promise to remove launching and parking fees from more than 200 of the state’s publicly owned boat ramps – a difficult task given the mix of private, state and local government ownership of the infrastructure that Victorian recreational boaters use.

“The current arrangements for providing and managing recreational boating infrastructure and services are complex,” he said in answers to a proforma list of questions issued by the Department of Transport.

“They involve several agencies and an array of different land managers, and in some areas, demand exceeds capacity.

“Demand is seasonal and there is a need to manage competing values for access to and use of coastal and inland waterways and adjoining land,” he said.

“The opportunity and the challenge will be to effectively balance competing interests, expectations, and aspirations throughout the state.”

Another challenge he highlighted was the pace at which Better Boating Victoria could introduce any changes.

“There will always be teething problems when establishing new policies and a new organisation,” Gaffney said.

“Transparency, good communication and goodwill from the boating community will be vital in the development of a long-term recreational boating strategy and to the success of BBV.

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“I know the expectations are high and I plan to meet them. However, implementing these unprecedented boating commitments will require consultation with stakeholders and level-headedness to get right, so I’d ask the community to be patient and work with us.”

And before anyone dismisses him as just another government bureaucrat, he holds a boat operator’s licence, and has extensive boating experience including competing in the Marlay Point Overnight Race on the Gippsland Lakes.

“I learned the ropes as a child on family holidays in a Halvorsen boat on Lake Eildon before moving to Paynesville as a teenager and sailing out of the Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club.” Gaffney said.

“I also spent a fair bit of time with dad fishing on the Gippsland Lakes in his Savage Commander boat.

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“When I was in the Kimberley, I owned a Quintrex bowrider that we used to explore the Ord River, Lake Kununurra and Lake Argyle areas.

“I’ve also crewed on an ocean racer [out of the] Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, owned [boats] and sailed extensively on the Gippsland Lakes.”

Better Boating Victoria was formed on March 25 to oversee a number of recreational boating reforms in the state. It aims to have all the fees removed “by the time people are putting their boats into the water in spring”.

The Andrews-led Labor Government has promised to spend every dollar raised via the state’s marine licencing and boat registration fees – believed to be about $27 million a year – back into the activity.