Vic government should back Port Phillip council bid to ban jet skis from Melbourne beaches

Jet ski hoons have been terrorising marine life and putting swimmers at risk around Port Phillip Bay for at least a decade. It’s time they were banned from our beaches.

Jet ski hoons close to swimmers at Rye on the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: Josie Jones

Summer roared into town this week, and so did the jet skis hoons, bringing their obnoxious whine and dangerous ‘look at me’ displays to beaches around the bay.

At least one Melbourne council was ready for them, voting unanimously to ban personal water craft at the city’s busiest beaches including St Kilda, Elwood, Middle Park, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne.

Now Port Phillip Council will lobby the state government to introduce — and police — a ban that would also see jet skis banished 200m out to sea from St Kilda pier.

But as the Port Phillip councillor leading the charge knows, there’s not much a local council can do to keep these pariahs of the pier away from swimmers and St Kilda’s vulnerable penguin colony.

Serge Thomann says only the state government can toughen up and enforce laws governing personal water craft.

“It’s not our jurisdiction. Only that government and the police can do that,” he said.

“We can advocate, and it’s important that we do, but that’s all.”

Maritime Safety Officers Sean Whelan (right) speaks with some jet skiers on Port Phillip Bay. Picture: Hamish Blair

Over the past five years more than 2,700 infringements have been issued to jet skiers on Victorian waterways, 300 of them in 2024.

Safe Transport Victoria will again run its Cool Your Jets behavioural awareness program in 2025-26.

The program focuses on educating jet ski users about speed and distance requirements and reinforcing the importance of respecting all waterway users.

But if the behaviour of jet ski riders seen by the Herald Sun at St Kilda Pier this week is any indication, the message isn’t getting through.

Beachgoers around the bay and those who live nearby have had enough.

A Herald Sun poll revealed readers were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping jet skis away from swimming beaches.

A whopping 65 per cent of people agreed mixing high-powered water craft with swimmers and marine life was “too dangerous”.

One reader even suggested Spring Street introduce “jet ski bins” and encourage rogue riders to hand back their horse power.

A further 22 per cent agreed with a ban but thought it important to give jet ski riders there own area.

“They are useless for anything but hooning. Give them some remote designated area and let them knock each other out,” one reader suggested.

Port Phillip’s move struck a chord on the Mornington Peninsula, which has been dealing with “wall to wall” jet skis at some beaches for at least six years.

I’ve been covering the Mornington Peninsula for years, and jet skis are a hot topic every summer.

Each year brings fresh horror stories of near misses, such as swimmers taking an early morning dip at Rye almost being mowed down, to sickening footage of a group of jet ski riders chasing a pod of dolphins.

In 2018 the council called for special jet ski “hoon legislation”.

It wanted riders breaking the law to cop demerit points, increased surveillance such as CCTV, a jet ski only zone and bans for under-18s — even if accompanied by adults.

The Shire wrote to relevant Victorian Ministers in January 2025, December 2024 and October 2023, requesting action regarding significant long standing community concerns about increased PwC safety incidents.

Despite all those letters and a petition signed by 6000 residents, locals and the eight million people who visit the Mornington Peninsula each year are still waiting for action.

Originally published as Vic government should back Port Phillip council bid to ban jet skis from Melbourne beaches