We’re yacht gonna take it: lake ban raises Eyre of sailors

Angry Lake Eyre yacht owners are threatening to defy a ban on walking and recreation on Australia’s largest lake imposed by the South Australian government with the support of traditional owners.

Lake Eyre Yacht Club commodore Bob Backway on the lake at Fossil Bay. Picture: supplied

Angry Lake Eyre yacht owners are threatening to defy a ban on walking and recreation on Australia’s largest lake imposed by the South Australian government with the support of traditional owners.

The SA National Parks and Wildlife Service announced last week that walking or any form of physical entry will be banned forthwith at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, which is used by a small number of boating enthusiasts every few years on the rare ­occasion the lake has water.

The only way anyone will now be able to see the lake will be from the air in a light aircraft or at a handful of viewing platforms dotted around its perimeter.

SANPWS cited safety concerns, environmental degradation and the cultural significance of the lake to the traditional owners, the Arabana people, who hold native title rights over the lake system and its tributaries.

The area has also been deemed off limits due to its important role in breeding for many species of migratory birds.

The announcement has enraged the tiny Lake Eyre Yacht Club which numbers just over 300 members, only half of whom are active and enjoy yachting and kayaking on the lake when rain permits.

Lake Eyre receives around 5000 visitors a year but the numbers swell to 25,000 when it floods. The 9500sq km lake system experiences a small flood every three years, a large flood every decade, and only fills completely around four times every 100 years.

Lake Eyre Yacht Club commodore Bob Backway told The Australian that his members had “a long and proud history of respecting the area”.

“We are very careful when we sail not to disturb anything, we would never land on any islands where birds are nesting, we know what we are doing,” he said.

“We have our own cultural heritage too. It feels like ours are the only voices that aren’t being listened to in this process.”

Lake Eyre Yacht Club commodore Bob Backway at Lake Eyre. Picture: supplied

Mr Backway’s point is backed up the SANPWS’s own research, which found less than half of respondents were very satisfied or deeply satisfied with the proposed ban. But the department also argues it is imposing the ban for people’s safety, saying that the shards of salt in the dry lake bed can be dangerous for visitors.

NPWS National Parks Programs Manager Jason Irving said the ban was “very much about public safety”.

“Venturing out on the lake can be extremely dangerous because it is vast and has significantly variable weather conditions, which makes it easy to become disoriented and get lost,” Mr Irving said.

“The lake is incredibly remote and people who may get injured or lost on the lake bed cannot rely on others to rescue them. Vehicles driven out on to the lake can also break down or get bogged and leave people stranded. These circumstances have led to deaths on SA salt lakes.

“Thousands of people a year can still enjoy the experience of ­visiting Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre by taking one of the scenic flight tours or by marvelling at the lake from one of the designated viewing areas.”

A beach on the Warburton River. Picture: Bob Backway

Mr Irving was backed by Bronwyn Dodd, chair of the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, who said the lake was a place of great importance for Arabana.

“We are proud to share this part of our country, and the ularaka (story) that belongs here,” she said.

“This plan reflects Arabana’s cultural responsibility to protect our country, and preservation of this lake and all that lies within it and surrounding it preserves our way of life. It is a very special place.”

But Mr Backway said he had been exploring the area for decades and had always done so in a respectful way.

He said he and his fellow sailors “do not need our hands held” when it comes to safety.

Mr Backway last sailed on Lake Eyre South in 2022 and on Lake Eyre North in 2019 and said that when the conditions were right he and his fellow yachties would be back sailing regardless of the ban.

“We have been doing this for years because we love the area,” he said. “We don’t just sail on Lake Eyre, we sail on the rivers and the other beautiful lakes that pop up.

“They can ban us all they like but we are going to defy it. Defying it is our best move. It’s worked in the past. Appealing it is absolutely no use because this current state government has got an agenda.”

It would not be the first time Mr Backway has come into conflict with the SA government over access to Lake Eyre.

In 2011, Mike Rann’s Labor government threatened to fine him $50,000 for daring to sail on the lake after the Arabana were awarded native title rights over the region, but did not make good on the threat.