Almost 13 years after Robert’s death, jet-skis are still a danger at Melbourne’s beaches

Alexandra Brewster shudders when she sees footage in her local Facebook group of jet-skis hooning at Port Melbourne beach close to children and families cooling off in the shallows.

“To be honest, for our entire family, it’s very triggering,” the 27-year-old said.

Almost 13 years ago, Brewster’s life changed forever when her father, Robert, was hit by an erratic jet-ski driven by Ivan Maqi, then aged 21, while swimming between piers at Port Melbourne.

Maqi had registered his jet-ski that day, and it was his first time riding the watercraft in the open water.

Alexandra Brewster lost father Robert when a jet-ski hit him while he was swimming at Port Melbourne in 2012. Credit: Joe Armao

“The man ran over him and didn’t actually know he’d even hit him, just kept driving,” Brewster recalled. “The fishermen were screaming at Maqi that they had hit Dad, who was lifeless in the water.”

Robert, 51, was in hospital for two days before his family made the call to turn off his life support. Maqi was later sentenced to five years’ jail.

“Within one minute, your entire life path changes because of someone else’s stupidity, you know?” Alexandra Brewster said.

“It’s really hard to think about. Dad was in the swimmers-only zone, he was doing the right thing.”

Another summer means another season of complaints about badly behaved jet-skiers at Melbourne’s beaches.

Robert Brewster in the 1990s with his daughters Alexandra (left) and Georgia.

But calls for a major overhaul of regulation in Port Phillip Bay are getting louder from worried locals, councils, lifeguards and the Brewster family.

The current marine laws in the bay dictate that jet-skis must operate at least 200 metres out from the shoreline, and while travelling through the 200-metre zone they must slow to five knots. Jet-skis can be 300 horsepower and reach speeds of 100km/h.

But as the weather heats up, hair-raising videos are circulating on social media of recent close encounters between swimmers and jet-ski users close to shore.

Sandridge Beach lifesaver David Hysen has been writing to the state government for two years begging for intervention.

He said it was falling to volunteers like him to try to keep jet-skis away from swimmers – even though lifesavers have no authority to issue fines or ask for licences – and jet-ski watching was absorbing time for patrol shifts.

“The lifesaver radio traffic from Elwood to Altona and Williamstown is 50 per cent just about jet-skis,” Hysen said. “That’s all you hear every weekend.

“You ask any club – they’re a pain in the arse. The only people who enjoy it are the riders.”

Hysen said that in early December he saw a marine patrol boat stop a jet-ski in the 200-metre exclusion zone to speak to the rider for 15 minutes.

“I’m not sure what happened, but only 10 minutes later after the authorities went, the same jet-ski sped through the flagged area again,” he said.

“I also think the attitude is if you buy one you can let all your mates ride it – I’m sure half the people on them don’t have licence.”

It’s a similar story at nearby St Kilda, where lifesaver Tim Norman said he spent most of a recent patrol shift in a rescue boat “guarding against jet-skis”.

Jet-skiers at Port Melbourne on Friday.Credit: Justin McManus

“What happens every year is we get a new crop of people who have limited experience, may or may not have a jet-ski licence and do not seem to be familiar with the rules of separation,” he said.

Norman was also concerned by groups of jet-skis “hunting in packs” close together when the law states they should be 50 metres away from one another.

And further down the bay at Mordialloc beach, volunteer lifesaver Lisa Ferguson said she was given the middle finger by a jet-skier whom she had told to move out of the swimming zone. She’s also seen riders intentionally wash paddleboarders off their boards in the Patterson River.

“[But] we do have some amazing riders who come in slowly through the five-knot zone correctly – they just putt-putt and then float in,” she said. “They can be used safely.”

Safe Transport Victoria, the government agency that oversees maritime safety, said there were 28,000 registered jet-skis in Victoria and that over the past five years more than 2700 fines were issued to riders.

But the agency could not provide data on the annual number of crash incidents.

The behaviour of jet-skiers is a concern for Melbourne’s bayside councils and community groups.Credit: Justin McManus

The state opposition has called for more resourcing to water police, blames the Allan government for being unable to manage jet-ski complaints and has launched a parliamentary petition for greater action.

“If you keep getting away with something, you keep doing it,” said Opposition Leader Brad Battin.

Victoria Police said some of the jet-ski behaviour officers had witnessed recently was “frankly appalling”. Police will escalate patrols over the coming summer months.

“Jet-skis are not harmless toys – they are high-powered vessels which have the potential to cause lifelong harm if in the wrong hands,” said Acting Inspector Louis Du Plessis, of the water police and search and rescue squads.

Du Plessis said although his team ran water patrols “every single day” to pull over jet-skis for licence and vessel checks, and fined at least 300 riders in 2024, police “cannot be everywhere at once”.

“Jet-ski operators need to take some responsibility for their own behaviour. There is no excuse for not knowing the rules and there is no excuse for putting other water users at risk,” Du Plessis said.

Others argue there will never be enough police resources to get full compliance, so re-zoning was needed.

Fifty-three community and environment groups across the bay have united behind a campaign to lobby the government to expand the 200-metre boat-free zone to one kilometre from the shoreline.

The groups argue a wide buffer would solve the issue of distance from swimmers, as well as the roaring noise of the jet-skis.

“On Rye Pier we’ve measured the noise at 85 decibels,” says campaign spokeswoman and Rye local Mechelle Cheers.

“If you were in the workforce you would be made to wear earmuffs for OHS [occupational health and safety laws] at 85 decibels,” she said.

Cheers said jet-skis had “occupied the best part of the beach” at Rye.

“There’s no way you would let a small child walk on the water’s edge,” she said.

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has been the most vocal of the bayside councils on the need for reform for at least five years, but Mayor Anthony Marsh said requests were “falling on deaf ears”.

“There seems to be a lot of conversation about it but nothing comes of it,” he said.

The council wants 500-metre exclusion zones and dedicated, well-marked jet-ski lanes into the shore to allow riders to pull up on the beach – rather than a boat ramp – to pick up passengers safely.

“It’s not rocket science,” Marsh said.

“We’ve also got to make it harder to get a licence. I got my jet-ski licence by doing a short test. You do it at VicRoads without even seeing a jet-ski.”

Outdoor Recreation Minister Steve Dimopoulos. His office said there were no plans to review jet-ski regulations.Credit: Getty Images

Port Phillip Council is promoting good jet-ski behaviour as part of its summer management plan, and Mayor Louise Crawford said the council would “welcome” any opportunity to work with the state on improving safety.

Former Port Phillip councillor Marcus Pearl was more blunt: he said a 500-metre buffer for the whole bay was needed immediately because another accident was only a matter of time.

“If we see no action from our governments on this issue, I see calls for banning jet-skis on Port Phillip Bay completely getting stronger,” he said.

Outdoor Recreation Minister Steve Dimopoulos was contacted for comment. A government spokesman said a review into licensing and exclusion zones “is not something currently being considered”.

Alexandra Brewster said her family were “really fearful that for change to happen [a death is] going to have to happen again”.

Robert Brewster with daughter Georgia in the 1990s.

“It’s been 13 years in February, and the same behaviour is still occurring,” she said.

“I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like if my dad was here.

“We just know he would have loved to have been here for our whole lives to see us grow up, walk us down the aisle, have our own families and be a loving grandfather. It’s just really shattering.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.