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Derek Bullock
07-12-2004, 11:04 AM
Beattie Govt Announces New Plan To Manage Jet Skis

Caboolture: Queensland jet skiers will require a special jet ski licence and be prohibited from operating in "exclusion zones" under a new State Government plan announced today.

Following today's Community Cabinet meeting in Caboolture, Premier Peter Beattie and Transport Minister Paul Lucas announced Cabinet had approved a Jet Ski Management Plan for Queensland.

The plan, available for community comment until February 27, 2005, also standardises the minimum distance that must be maintained between jet skis and people in the water, moored vessels and the shore.

"There are 7291 jet skis currently registered in Queensland," Mr Beattie said. "Eighty per cent are registered in south east Queensland, with the majority in the Sunshine and Gold Coasts and along the Brisbane River," he said.

"Ownership has exploded by an average 30% each year for the past four years.

"Such a rise in popularity has caused some 'growing pains' for the broader community and complaints about amenity, noise and safety have escalated.

"Today my Government has released a plan which takes a common sense approach. It balances the needs of waterside residents, recreational boaties, the general community and the environment with those of jet skiers," he said.

Mr Lucas said the government plan promoted increased safety for jet skiers, by improving skills and knowledge.

"Although jet skis make up only 4% of registered recreational boats, since 2001 jet skis have accounted for up to 7.6% of all reported recreational marine incidents and 10% of accidents causing serious injury," he said.

"In the first six months of this year, four of the 13 serious or fatal recreational boating incidents in Queensland involved jet skis."

"Thankfully, there have been no recorded jet ski deaths," Mr Lucas said.

Proposed new measures in the Jet Ski Management Plan include:

1. A new class of licence specifically for jet skiers:
- A new stand-alone licence for jet skis will be introduced to improve the knowledge and skills of operators.
- From January 1, 2006, all persons operating a jet ski must have a jet ski licence.
- To be eligible for this licence, a person must first hold a recreational marine drivers licence or a commercial licence.
- From July 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005, existing jet ski users can upgrade their recreational marine drivers or commercial licence to include a jet ski licence by completing a written test.
- From January 1, 2006, all applicants for a jet ski licence will need to complete a Boatsafe (Jet Ski) training module before being eligible for a jet ski licence.
- The $32.05 fee for the new jet ski licence will be used for increased jet ski enforcement and education.

2. Exclusion and restricted-use zones
- Some areas of Queensland waterways will be able to be restricted for jet ski use by both exclusion zones (total ban) and restricted-use zones (restricting activities other than straight-line travel at set speeds).
- Maritime Safety Queensland will establish zoning assessment criteria, in consultation with local councils and other agencies.
- Local Councils seeking to establish exclusion zones in their area will be required to apply the criteria and consult the community on any proposal to limit or restrict jet skis.
- As these zones will primarily be created for amenity or quality of life issues, primary responsibility for enforcement will be a matter for local Councils and will be required to be addressed in any proposal to the State Government.
- Councils will then submit a zone proposal to Maritime Safety Queensland, which will make a recommendation to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads.

3. Increased "distance off" zones.
- "Distance off" regulations for jet skis will be 60 metres in all cases - from people in the water, anchored vessels, infrastructure and the shore. Within 60 metres they must travel no faster than 6 knots.
- Currently "distance off" requirements vary - it is 60 metres for people in the water, 30 metres from anchored vessels and no restrictions on how close jet skis can go to the shore.
- The government also is considering limiting freestyling and wave jumping to 200 metres offshore if one or more dwellings are adjacent to the water and visible to the jet skier.

4. Increased education and enforcement activities.
- A dedicated jet ski education and enforcement team will be introduced over the 2004/05 Christmas/New Year boating season.
- The jet ski team will focus on enforcing boat safety rules and educating jet ski operators on their responsibilities through regular patrols at known hot spots.

5. Increase the minimum size of registration numbers.
From July 1, 2005, the minimum size of registration numbering will be increased from 75 mm to 100 mm to make identification of offending jet skiers easier

Mr Lucas said the Jet Ski Management Plan was developed following a 12-month extensive review which received 237 submissions.

He said many of the changes brought Queensland into line with similar provisions in NSW and Victoria.

"Queenslanders now have until February 27 to comment on our proposals before we move to implement them by mid-2005 under amendments to the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act," he said.

The Minister said that following a spate of recent incidents Maritime Safety Queensland also proposes to review the age at which children are able to operate boats and jet skis under the supervision of a licence holder.

For the year ended September 30 there were 14 boating fatalities and 31 serious injuries. Of the five reported serious boating injuries to children, three involved jet skis.

Current laws do not place any age limit on children operating boats or jet skis under supervision. At present, size requirements for jet ski pillion passengers are similar to those for motor bikes, with the passenger having to be of a size so their feet reach the footrests.

Comments can be addressed to: jetskireview@transport.qld.gov.au or Director (Executive Services and Compliance) Maritime Safety Queensland GPO Box 2595 Brisbane Qld 4001. Ph: 3120 7474. Fax: 3120 7499.

Mr Beattie said the government wanted to ensure that the responsible use of jet skis continued without adversely affecting the community.

"The vast majority of jet skiers are responsible people - and no wants to cramp their reasonable recreational pursuits," he said.

"However, we have a responsibility to ensure liveability, safety and sustainability of our waterways for everyone who uses or lives near them."

6 December 2004
Media Contact: Paul Childs 3237 1942 or 0407 131 654

subzero
07-12-2004, 11:28 AM
Shame a few bad eggs spoil it for everyone.... you always remember the pratts and forget or dont notice the responsible ones....
Just yesterday we had one of our boats (VP2) towing a small sailing cattamaran into the jetty when one of the jet skis took of at full tit and headed straight at our boat. It was high tide, plenty of room for the jet ski to go in any other direction, went straight for our boat, turned hard to starboard at about 15mtrs from our boat and skimed past the cat and tender... I honestly thought they were going to take our boat out... I was standing on the jetty waiting to help to recover the cat and I bloody near had a heart attack... if I had time to see the rego I would have laid a complaint and followed it through.... but at the end of the day that was one of probably 30 jet skis that came down throughout the weekend and never caused anyone a problem
I welcome the new rules and regs... I would also welcome the enforcement directed at the idiots that will supposedly come from the extra revenue raised... I doubt any revenue will be in reality spent on safety and education however...

cooky
07-12-2004, 01:17 PM
a new licence code - just what we need ???

Big_Kev
07-12-2004, 02:59 PM
Open season may have been better.

Fitzy
07-12-2004, 04:02 PM
This will, in effect, restrict all PWC to 6 knots in almost all rivers, creeks & canals. Any waterway less than 120m wide they will have to abide by the 6 knot rule.

A great move IMHO. I'm just wondering how to get an "exclusion zone" applied to some of our lakes.
I'll be congratulating the govt by sending an email to jetskireview@transport.qld.gov.au

Maybe Qld is starting to catch up on its Smart State Slogan.

Fitzy..

Dug
07-12-2004, 06:25 PM
Again it is the idiots who make it bad for the rest but it is about time someone did something about the idiot factor. Natural selection is not working fast enough.

Full marks to the Government on the law lets see if they enforce it :o

PinHead
07-12-2004, 11:59 PM
Alas I fear nothing will change. Those that are responsible now will abide by the new regualtions. Those that are idiots now will not care about the new regualtions and continue to be idiots...there really has to be something down to prevent some people having kids...too many idiots surviving these days.

jeffo
08-12-2004, 02:11 AM
ill help inforce it.. with a 10 ball ;) ;D good to see these laws anounced. maybe now i can fish my whiting spots in peace and quiet :-X

cooky
08-12-2004, 04:35 AM
The people on jet skis probably don't like fishing people with lines all over the show either. "glad these zones have got rid of the fishermen - my favourite jet skiiing spot is available again"

I personally have no problems with Jet Skis. I've never owned one, but have plenty of friends with them. They're great fun for 20 minutes and I believe you have to FLOG the f**K out of them to have fun. To people watching this looks like HOON behaviour and therefore jet ski riders are tagged as such.

One of my staff has just travelled the world and made one observation after a few weeks back "Australians aren't very TOLERANT".

You have a lot more of them down south than we have up here though.

At the end of the day they're having fun just like us - except our hobby (boating / fishing) is a little more sedate.

BigE
08-12-2004, 08:23 AM
yeah let ban them pesky PWC and get outa my fishing spots................just wonder how long before some smartie pen pusher decides my 4m tinny IS a PWC .... ooops sorry bloke you cant be here. bans only work on the people who arent breaking the rules anyway. its the same as kids in cars, give em some where to race/do burnouts and some one will make a buck .... ban em and they will just be hoons..... i think everyone just needs a bit of space to do their own thing....... NO i dont own/ride a jet ski......... i dont catch all the fish either so i could be wrong!

flattymattyb
08-12-2004, 01:49 PM
do you reckon they could also deem a 24ft+ pleasure boat doing 20knts+ as a pwc in inshore waters ;) ;D ;D ;D.

We need to be careful with things like this if they could do it to them this easy they can do it to US as well. As others have said it only takes a few idiots to ruin it for everyone, no matter what your doing.

Cheers
Matty

Gazza
13-12-2004, 08:10 AM
Yep , they're missiles ,and should be more considerate of others pastimes as well........tighter regs/Lic. needed!!

p.s. to be nice ,most are #:o ,doing the right thing, and should be left alone , as well ;)

wombat10
13-12-2004, 08:43 AM
and heres proof they are not just a menace on the water!

on my way to the ramp yesterday i watched in amazement as a bloke with a PWC on a trailer make a right turn into an oncomming car, both cars were heavily damaged but unfortunately the PWC escaped unscratched.
He was at fault 100% but stood there abusing the woman driver of the other car for not seeing him and braking in time (to avoid hitting him while he was making an illeagal turn!!)

Obviously thought he owned the road too ::)

MTpockets
14-12-2004, 07:30 AM
I must say that for the first time on the weekend the buzz box's kept their distance. I dont mind them if they do the right thing 8)

mini696
14-12-2004, 07:51 AM
I agree... If they are using their craft within the law then I am happy.

The biggest thing which gets me with PWC's is them not doing 6 knots within 30m of shore, swimmers and other boats.

While i'm having a gripe. I also get the shirts with boats parking right on the turning bouys marking the ski zones (especially in the Maroochy River)... Come on fellas we only have a short part of the river to ski in, so move 100m away from the bouys so we can have a bit of fun hey!! And stop laughing when I fall off. ;D

MTpockets
14-12-2004, 10:59 AM
I thought they were laughing at me........

coyote3
14-12-2004, 05:07 PM
what annoys me about them is the fact that i think they sound like mozzies

skales
14-12-2004, 07:14 PM
I was handed a form to fill out at the Grand hotel boat ramp yesterday and asked to fill it out and send it back , they are trying to band jet skis in sections of the gold coast broadwater . Just might do that then there would be more room for boat trailers at this ramp.