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Something Fishy About Labor’s Boating ‘Promise’

Forgotten: Labor’s promise to Victoria’s boating and fishing community.

By Portal Admin - 8th June 2019 - Back to News

Labor’s promise to Victoria’s boating and fishing community to return all boating fees back into better infrastructure is quickly sinking.

At last year’s election, Labor matched the Liberal Nationals’ commitment to return the $27 million collected annually in boating revenue back into better facilities for the boating community.

Despite allocating $27 million over 2019-20 in the State Budget, just $12.6 million – less than half – is allocated in 2020-21. There’s zero allocation in future years.

Daniel Andrews owes Victoria’s fishing and boating community an explanation – will he honour his promise?

This is Daniel Andrews’ first Budget containing Fishing and Boating as a new portfolio but it leaves more questions than it answers.

If this commitment was set in stone, as promised, it would be listed in the forward estimates. Labor has also been silent on when it will remove all parking and launching fees as promised pre-election, despite saying pre-election this was a priority.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Fishing and Boating Tim Bull

There are zero details as to how this fund will work and the Budget raises more questions than it answers.

Before the election, Daniel Andrews said parking would be free and that all fees from launching and licences would be reinvested.

What he hasn’t said is when he’ll implement this and whether he will do this for councils that fund their own facility maintenance internally, without charging fees.

Will Daniel Andrews only help some councils but not others? He needs to come clean and explain how he plans to keep his promise to Victoria’s boating and fishing community.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: support@gippsland.com