Recreational fishers’ and boaters’ guide to the 2019 Victorian state election

But which party has the best policy for fishers and boaters?

All these players, with the exception of the Greens, have targeted one or both of these groups as a key part of pre-election campaigning. All of them, including the Greens, are promising big changes to the way we access and use the state’s water.

It’s not all that surprising that fishing and boating have become a political hotspot for this election. About 190,000 Victorians own boats, and about a million people a year pick up a fishing rod and head to a local waterway. It’s difficult finding numbers on how much recreational fishing contributes to the state, but NSW released a report this week that said fishers contributed about $2.2 billion a year directly to the economy. Expect Victoria’s contribution to be similar.

Here’s the run-down on what each party is promising, and how it will affect you depending on the one that sweeps to power.

The incumbent Andrews Government has pitched into this election campaign with the slogan “Delivering for boaters and fishers”, promising to make the recreational activities “cheaper and more accessible”.

It has pledged to fix boat ramps, abolish parking and launching fees, and “make sure that every cent of licencing and registration fees is spent on boating safety and facilities”.

You’ll need to take that with a grain of salt, because the money raised each year form boaters and fishers, estimated by Ramp Rage lobby group the Boating Industry Association of Victoria to be around $27 million a year, tips into general revenue.

Not only that, but ensuring we all comply with on-water safety and fishing restrictions is already a big drain on the estimated 11 per cent of revenue collected that makes its way back to the fishing and boating communities.

One of the significant gains promised by Labor is a plan to build a native fish farm near Shepparton to help re-supply the state’s waterways. The state already has a fish farm, but spends millions of dollars a year buying in fish stocks from neighbouring states to supplement the program. By 2020, the government wants to tip in an extra 10 million fish a year, particularly into fishing hotspots in an effort to grow tourism.

The Andrews Government has also pledged to back up its earlier efforts to build fish stocks in Corio and Port Phillip bays (banning netting in the former and buying out licences in the latter) by phasing out commercial netting in the Gippsland Lakes. However, this is a voluntary program, so retiring the remaining nine Lakes-based licenses could take years.

As a final sweetener, Labor will introduce a new series of number plates “to show how much you love fishing”. We’re yet to see what they will look like, but customised plates in the state cost from $170.

Similar to Labor, the Guy-Hodgett coalition has realised that the state’s waterways are a weekend playground to “millions of Victorians”.

It notes that while the Victorian Government spent about $3.23 million on boating and fishing last financial year, in neighbouring NSW it was $17 million, and in Queensland $15 million.

In contrast to Labor, the opposition forces have announced they will establish the Blue Infrastructure Fund, a standalone bank account into which revenue from recreational fishers and boaters, collected via the fees they pay, will flow. The fund, the coalition says, will “return all proceeds” in improved boating facilities.

This includes more boat ramps, jetties, navigation lights, and onshore facilities such as bigger car parks and better cleaning tables.

The coalition has also pledged to appoint the Victorian Ports Corporation Melbourne to oversee the entire state’s boating-based development, taking the responsibility away from a number of state government groups that at times appear to have been at odds with the interests of boaters and fishers.

This is similar to how the NSW Government plans and funds the building and maintenance of its marine infrastructure. If it works for them, it could work for us.

The party constantly appealing to the nation’s environmental conscience is keen to improve the state’s rivers – to the extent that they want us all to one day go swimming in freshwater pools formed along the Yarra River, just like we used to do half a century ago.

That plan rests largely on restoring healthy environmental flows to our waterways.

“...Victoria’s freshwater is coming under increasing pressure from climate change, pollution, and poor management,” the party says in a statement. “Our cities and towns spill pollution into our precious waterways, and industry and agricultural practices have at times failed to protect our environment properly.”

Cleaner water can only be good for the fish.

What may concern the state’s fishers and boaters, though, is the Greens’ plan to roll out more coastal reserves. It wants to create a new authority to manage the state’s coastline, and dip into the public purse to buy tracts of coastline in an effort to protect coastal habitat.

On the bright side, the Greens are keen to rebuild fish habitats by “building and restoring” oyster reefs in the state’s waters.

It also wants to reduce the amount of plastics flowing into the state’s waterways and oceans.

The party already has two serving members in the state’s lower house, elected to parliament in 2014. The Victorian branch of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has since added a celebrity to its ranks; former Motoring Enthusiasts’ Party federal senator Ricky Muir, who will vie for a seat in the state’s east.

The party’s official website is quite light on for policy. On the plus side, one key policy of the mainly pro-shooting, pro-four-wheel-driving, pro-greyhound racing group appears to be maintaining public access to areas of interest to recreational fishers.

Fishers do get a specific mention. “Fishing in Victoria is extremely popular and we want to see more opportunities and more protection for fisheries,” the group said in a social media post. Its website also supports making improvements to boat ramps.