Sealink barge fares up 4% to Noni Hazelhurst’s Macleay Is paradise
Visitors to the home of actor Noni Hazlehurst will be slugged an extra $3 to take their cars to the former Play School host’s island hideaway next week, after the barge company jacks up fares.
Redlands Coast
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Visitors to the home of actor Noni Hazlehurst will be slugged an extra $3 to take their cars to the former Play School host’s island hideaway next week, after the barge company jacks up fares on Saturday.
As a resident of Macleay Island, Hazlehurst will also be forced to fork out an extra $2.50 when she takes her car to and from the island on a Sealink barge.
Barge company Sealink has alerted residents of Macleay, Russell, Lamb and Karragarra islands that the current trip fee for an average-sized family car will rise from $62 to $64.50 tomorrow.
Visitors to Hazlehurst’s waterfront home overlooking parts of Straddie, will have to pay $78 to get their car on the barge from Redland Bay.
When Hazelhurst first moved to the island after paying $790,000 for the property in February, it cost her visitors $75 a trip to take a car on the barge.
But it will be island concession card holders who will carry the biggest fare hike burden if using the barge to or from the islands.
They will pay $6 every time they travel on a Sealink car barge to or from the mainland, up from the current price of $4.
In an unusual twist, the new fare schedule lists a 33 per cent reduction in fees to island students with barge tickets costing a schoolchild $4 instead of the current $6.
The state government subsidises student travel and most fares for students are already free.
Using the barge to shift freight will also cost an extra 25 per cent with a $20 fee to move one item, up from the current $16.
Sealink barge fares have increased every year with a resident car trip costing $58 in 2021-2022 rising to $62.
Macleay Island resident and mayoral candidate Gayle Nemeth said Sealink barges and ferries were at capacity with boarding lines often more than 30 people and staff regularly forced to turn people away.
“Sealink is not coping with the population rise and the increase in diesel prices,” Ms Nemeth said.
“One barge out of commission and it will be some time before new boats come online.
“There has been no planning for the massive population boom on the islands and the barges are chockers dealing with all the food delivery vans and tradies.
“Residents are less likely to use the barge as the fares are going up – but what choice have they got as the number of parking spaces at the mainland ferry terminal at Redland Bay is being reduced.”
Sealink was contacted for comment.
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