Coalition’s boating, fishing cash splash doesn’t add up

In the lead-up to that unwinnable election, the coalition made a promise to inject cash into building better resources for the boating and fishing community via a new bucket of cash called the Recreational Fishing and Camping Facilities Program.

The headline figure was a $20 million pool of money that would give a hand to upgrade or replace ageing boating and camping infrastructure across Australia.

But the devil was in the details. The spend was included in the 2020-21 Federal Budget papers, split up into $5 million chunks over the next four years that would be made available to local governments. As well as helping boaters, the money was to also be shared among tourism authorities to help them build better and more accessible toilet blocks and the like.

Management of the fund was handed to the Victorian Fisheries Authority, which would assess each grant on merit – the money could not be spent on projects that had already been started or maintenance such as annual dredging – before handing over the cheque.

The grants, which have since contracted to three years and were not included in the most recent Budget papers, have since funded projects ranging from fish-cleaning tables to dedicated ramps for launching kayaks, installing solar lights and navigation aids at boat ramps, and even drawing up plans for new facilities in problem areas for boaters.

Boatsales.com.au has asked the VFA for a breakdown of the Recreational Fishing and Camping Facilities Program’s grants since its inception.

Last week, the Federal Government promised to extend its support for projects aimed at improving boating, fishing and camping facilities with another $20 million injection if it is returned to power in next month’s election.

So, how does the Federal Government’s $5 million-a-year splash stack up against state-based boating and fishing initiatives?

In Queensland, which has Australia’s highest density of boat ownership, the State Government has just wrapped up a two-year, $30 million makeover of its boating infrastructure, many of which will be completed this year.

In NSW, the Boating Now project has allocated more than $120 million since 2015 – roughly $17 million a year – to help improve boating infrastructure.

NSW and Queensland also are now dealing with the fallout from extensive flood damage wreaked earlier this year.

In Victoria, the State Government has pledged to plough every cent of the estimated $32 million it raises each year in licensing and registration fees paid by boaters back into everything from fish stocking to employing more compliance officers and major boat ramp overhauls.

In Western Australia, the Recreational Boating Facilities Scheme has tipped almost $50 million into adding or improving recreational boating facilities since 2011, or the equivalent of about $4.5 million a year.

In 2020, the South Australian government pledged to spend $40 million on upgrading the state’s boating facilities, although the money was also shared with bridge upgrades.

The Federal Government’s $20 million is to be spread across more than 100 projects. If only 25 applicants are successful each year of the program, it means the average pool of federal assistance will sit at around $50,000.

Meanwhile, installing a pontoon on a boat ramp costs around $400,000.

Labor is yet to make a counteroffer to the Morrison Government’s cash splash to woo boaters’ votes, but if it does, it will need to be significantly beefier than what’s already on the table to have any sort of resonance. Last time around it offered a $55 million election teaser aimed squarely at boaters – better, but still not brilliant.

Appealing directly to boaters and fishers is a tactic that appears to have worked well at the state level, helping to return the Andrews government to power in 2019 after it promised a big investment in recreational boating in the state that went as far as to remove parking fees at public boat ramps.

Will an idea like this scale up to win votes in a federal election? It’s a tempting thought, but I don’t think we will have the answer by the time the polls close on May 21.