SA Tourism Commission savaged over using picture of woman diving headfirst into River Murray

The SA Tourism Commission has taken down this picture of a woman diving into the River Murray after being savaged online for posting it – can you see what’s wrong with it?

The state government’s official tourism social media sites have been inundated with complaints after admins posted a picture of a woman diving headfirst into the River Murray.

The picture on the South Australia Facebook and Instagram pages – run by the South Australian Tourism Commission and described as “South Australia’s official Facebook page” and “the official account for South Australia” – posted the picture of the woman without a lifejacket diving from a moored houseboat into the opaque water.

The caption read: “It’s time to take a trip to the Riverland or the Murray River, Lakes and Coorong regions and remind yourself how peaceful a river getaway can be” and a raised hands emoji.

Both posts, which were live for almost two days, were deleted on Tuesday afternoon after SATC was contacted by The Advertiser.

A screenshot from the South Australia Facebook page showing a woman diving headfirst into the Murray

Diving into the River Murray is strongly discouraged due to the dangers of submerged logs and roots and shallow sandbanks – and the fact that the diver can’t see below the surface.

The government’s own recommendations posted on the environment.sa.gov website say “When swimming, always wear a life jacket and only swim in areas that are slow-flowing and free of submerged hazards”.

The Facebook post had attracted more than 100 comments before being removed, with the majority pointing out how dangerous diving into the Murray is.

“Even without the floods and the extra debris there are grasses and reeds below the surface of the Murray, definitely not safe to dive in at any time,” one commenter wrote.

Other comments included: “No way should they be promoting diving into the Murray at the best of times let alone now. Poor advertising”; “Please use another photo for your promotion. No-one should ever dive into the River! It is not safe!”; and “South Australia, since when is it river etiquette to dive in ... and without a life jacket. With what has just gone on, would be a deadly decision”.

There have been injuries and deaths from diving into the Murray, with a number of people permanently confined to a wheelchair for life after hitting their heads on logs or the bottom.

A spokesperson for the South Australian Tourism Commission said: “The image used in the posts was not appropriate to support our river revival campaign, and has been removed.

“We are encouraging all South Australians to travel to our river regions and support communities impacted by the floods, and to do so safely.”
Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said: “My understanding is that the SATC has removed the post and I think that is the appropriate call of action.”