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- 3 May 2006
Waterways Safety
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Page: 22517
Mr JOHN BARTLETT: My question without notice is addressed to the Minister for Ports and Waterways. What is the latest information about safety on our waterways?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: Regrettably, there has been a shocking increase in the number of people flouting the rules designed to make our waterways safe. In the first four months of this year the number of people banned from riding a jet ski or similar watercraft was 122 compared to 76 for the same period last year. The number of people who have already lost their personal watercraft licence this year exceeds the number banned during the whole of last year when 120 people lost their licence. I have instructed NSW Maritime to make sure the reckless and selfish individuals creating havoc on our waterways are pulled into line. Some of those jet skis are capable of speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour, and we simply will not tolerate people getting their kicks out of hooning around on our waterways. The penalties for breaking our waterways rules can be severe. Apart from losing their licence those lawbreakers can be fined up to $1,500 for the most serious offences including riding in an exclusion zone. Often they commit several offences at once.
People can be banned from using those watercrafts for a range of offences including riding without a licence or riding while under the influence. They can be banned for repeated safety offences such as not wearing a lifejacket, riding too close to others or causing nuisance, annoyance, or danger. I am advised by NSW Maritime that so far this year people have been banned from riding those craft after flouting safety and licence laws on waterways in every region of the State. That level of illegal, irresponsible and dangerous riding has never happened over such a short period on New South Wales waters. It seems that the run of good boating conditions experienced during one of the warmest summers in 100 years made for a particularly busy boating season.
People who use our waterways should show respect for others and remember their responsibilities, especially in relation to safety. Anyone who thinks our waterways are a great place to break the law is in for a shock. There are 55 Boating Service Officers patrolling our waterways and if people do the wrong thing they will get caught. Those Boating Service Officers carry out more than 37,000 on-water checks on both recreational and commercial vessels every year. Among that recent spate of lawlessness was the case of a Clarence River jet skier, who was fined $3,000 in Grafton Local Court for breaching our safety rules.
In Sydney, a 28-year-old man was fined $2,000 and banned from operating any vessel until 2010 after he was caught twice in January riding unlicensed in Botany Bay and on the Georges River at Revesby. Then there is the serial offender: the 21-year-old man caught breaking the laws in January 2003, 2005 and 2006. For his most recent transgressions—which occurred at Little Beach in Port Stephens—he was fined nearly $1,200 for a range of offences including doing fast turns too close to the shore, and causing annoyance, nuisance or danger. In mid-February a Maritime Boating Officer spotted a jet skier speeding, swerving and turning sharply on the Georges River. The rider was stopped, checked, found to be unlicensed and was fined $800. The owner of the craft admitted to letting the person ride without a licence, and was fined $400.
One hour later the same craft was spotted doing some more fast turns in an exclusion zone and was stopped. That time it was the owner who was booked, fined an additional $160 and consequently banned from holding a licence. The great majority of people using our waterways are law abiding and they are happy to respect the rights of others while enjoying the great outdoors. I am sure those law-abiding citizens share my concern about the people who seem to think our waterways are places to speed, behave recklessly and ignore the rights of others. I have asked the State Government's boating officers to crack down on this worrying and dangerous behaviour. We simply will not put up with people who clearly could not care less about the rights of others to enjoy our waterways in safety and in peace.
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