Moreton Bay marine services strongly back statewide review

Moreton Bay region’s marine rescue services say they have been “grossly underfunded” for years as statewide review begins.

Redcliffe Coast Guard commander Lee McCarthy says a review is “better late than never”. Photo: Paul Guy.

They are the first port of call when a boat breaks down or someone goes missing out at sea.

But years of “gross underfunding” and “confusion” are the catalyst for a statewide review of Queensland’s Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) and Coast Guard (CG) services.

Both CG Redcliffe commander Lee McCarthy and VMR Bribie Island commodore Nathan Gundry have given their strong backing to Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford.

Mr McCarthy said a large bulk of his volunteers’ time was devoted to keeping the organisation’s head above water.

“We need to fundraise to keep ourselves on the water and saving lives compared to other state emergency services,” he said.

“The time spent raising money could be spent training our volunteers to commercial standard.

“We absolutely welcome the review; it’s probably a few years late, but better late than never.”

Redcliffe Coast Guard is backing an extensive review of the state’s marine rescue services.

Bribie Island VMR and Redcliffe CG both average roughly 1.4 call-outs per day, with each job taking between two to three hours in an area that spans from the Pumicestone Passage to Moreton Island.

Of the $702 million announced in the 2018-19 state budget for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services — $1.5 is spread between 21 CG services and $1.7 million among 26 VMR branches.

Mr Gundry said Queensland needed to follow NSW’s lead by combining the two marine rescue organisations, which perform the same service to the community.

“The general public are getting confused with two different squads from VMR and CG,” he said.

“We do the exact same thing and the same training.

“It will help us with getting funding.”

Both the commodore and commander met with minister Crawford six weeks ago to express their concerns.

Retired Royal Australian Navy commodore Campbell Darby DSC AM began the comprehensive assessment on Monday.

“The first stage of Mr Darby’s review will identify key policies impacting service delivery and volunteer based maritime search and rescue capability,” Mr Crawford said.

“The initial stages of the review will be completed prior to negotiations for the new service agreements (June next year).”

Submissions can be made to [e-mail].

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull inspects a refurbished Redcliffe Coast Guard boat last year with federal member for Petrie Luke Howarth. Photo: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian.