Victorian Authorities have ‘gone fishing’ with more than half of Fisheries officers set to be sacked

The Victorian culture of non-authority continues as the VFA prepares to sack half of its officers, meaning more offenders will be able to wriggle off the hook.

We’re still good at plenty in Victoria – like sport and coffee and blah blah etc. You know, the usual stuff.

But there are things we’ve become incredibly bad at – like holding people responsible for their actions.

We now have a culture in Victoria where we just leave people alone in the hope they do the right thing. Sounds good. But it doesn’t work.

And we see it not working across our courts, police, and government agencies.

The latest example comes from the Victorian Fisheries Authority – who are now preparing to sack half of its Fisheries Officers.

Victorian Fisheries Authority Officers Sarah Hurse and Mark Asplin. Picture: Mark Stewart

The FOs ensure anglers don’t take home bagfuls of undersized creatures to their air fryers, and preventing dodgy operators from ridding the world of abalone and crayfish, as well as policing boat safety. An essential job, you’d think.

But the VFA is preparing a new model that’s based more on “education and engagement” rather than compliance, and will mean mass redundancies of officers. Some with decades of experience. Apparently, compliance has been excellent in the last few years, so they’re not needed. But how long will that last once a few unscrupulous bastards with some burley figure out no one is watching them?

This culture of non-authority has been kicking around for years, causing us some very dangerous problems. The so-called youth crime crisis only became a “crisis” because we stopped making people responsible. If a kid commits a dozen crimes, but a judge gives them bail a dozen times, they’re unlikely to change.

Victorian Fisheries Authority Officer Mark Asplin off Altona. Picture: Mark Stewart

The tobacco war only became a “war” because the sale of illegal smokes was not tackled at the start. In a cost of living crisis, if we tax the buggery out of a legal product, while failing to enforce against the illegal version of the same thing, what do we think is going to happen? Hence all the fires. And even on the roads, Victorian drivers have never been more dangerous or impatient, and it seems like we’re never seen fewer cops on patrol.

Instead we just stick up speed cameras in the hope it fixes driver behaviour. It doesn’t.

It’s hard to say where this change of culture came from — leadership, bureaucracy, laziness, finances — but it’s real. The evidence surrounds us. And we’ve got to change it back.

Because as far as authority and responsibility goes, it feels like Victoria has put up a sign that reads “GONE FISHING”.