Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A horrific incident occurred on 26 February this year when a jet ski collided with one of my constituents, a swimmer at Port Melbourne beach. The man was fatally injured. Robert Brewster lived in Port Melbourne and was 51 years old with two daughters and a partner. The incident occurred in a swimming zone in Port Melbourne. It is currently under investigation by Victoria Police, but as my colleague the state member for Albert Park said, 'There are serious questions to be answered as to how a tragedy like this could occur on a hot evening in a swimming-only area on a crowded beach.' As one of my thoughtful constituents, Stephen Harvey, said in an email to me:

With a mix of such high performance machines and swimmers in such confined waters so close to the shore, an accident of this sort was inevitable.

There should be greater restrictions on how these powerful and clearly lethal machines, namely jet skis, are allowed to operate. An urgent review of safety and regulatory arrangements covering jet skis is needed. It is ironic that we recognise danger in the workplace—occupational health and safety makes it mandatory to separate plant machinery and pedestrians in workplaces—but that apparently on the beach it is okay to mix high-speed jet skis and people swimming. There have been reports that constituents have repeatedly raised their concerns about these incidents with local councils, the Water Police and Parks Victoria, but no significant safety measures have been taken as yet to address these concerns. Constituents have told me that, even though various authorities were sympathetic, each stated that it was not within their jurisdiction, and this resulted in them going from the local council to the Water Police and then to Parks Australia to voice their concerns. No-one appears to have overall responsibility for the safety issues.

Mr Stephen Harvey wrote, in his email to me:

… these Jet Skis … have fundamentally changed the character … of going to the beach … How is it that we have allowed these machines to have precedence on our local beaches? Who made that policy decision? Nobody did. It just happened when no one was looking. It appears to me that this important safety issue has slipped - almost unnoticed - between the various jurisdictions of the local Council, the Water Police and Parks Victoria. No one appears to have overall responsibility for addressing the safety issues that are caused by mixing together high performance machines and swimmers in the confined waters near suburban beaches. This is clearly a significant collective failure of local Council; the Water Police; Parks Victoria … It is time they started to talk to each other and took some collective responsibility for the appropriate management of this important water safety issue. If these various agencies of government do not act decisively now then the community should expect further fatalities.

As the Age editorialised:

Part of the problem may be the relatively lax approach to licensing riders of a powerful machine that naturally attracts young thrill-seekers. … An obvious discrepancy exists between the law's attitude to riding a high-powered jet-ski on the water and a high-powered vehicle on the road.

Beaches should be patrolled regularly, so that jet skiers comply with speed limits set on the water, and there should be an immediate increase in enforcement of the current regulations. Hoon laws should be applied on the water and there should be increased fines for people who break the existing laws. For increased safety, there should not be easy access to a jet ski licence. Third-party insurance should be made compulsory, to deal with the increasing numbers of injuries and legal claims. There should be the introduction of tougher fines and measures aligning offences in this area to motor vehicle penalties rather than recreational boating penalties.

I conclude with the eloquent plea of my friend Martin Foley, the member for Albert Park:

Let us see a greater effort on enforcement of the separation of swimmers and jet skis. Let us see greater restrictions on where these powerful and now clearly lethal machines can be allowed to operate. Let us increase the areas for swimmers and more passive recreational activity closer to shore and push jet skis further out past the 400 metres mark. Let us benchmark penalties on the equivalent offences for road vehicles. Let us make registration and licensing more demanding and rigorous. Let's increase the focus on education and responsible behaviour.

The death of Robert Brewster at Port Melbourne should not be in vain. I call on the Victorian government and the various local authorities to act responsibly. I am sure this is a problem all round Australia, not just in Melbourne Ports. High-powered jet skis should be seen as the equivalent of high-powered cars. We have increasingly strong community attitudes against hoon behaviour on the road. They should equally apply against hoon behaviour on the water. The lives of Australians enjoying the beach should not be put at risk by these machines.