Farmers worried about new Victorian camping laws

As Victoria’s politicians mull over whether to allow overnight camping on crown river banks, farmers who license them to use are nervous, writes Ed Gannon.

Responsible camping is one thing, but farmers are concerned about rubbish potentially being dumped and fires being left burning. Picture: Christian Pearson

WITH lockdowns easing and the regional-metro barrier set to fall next month, it will be time for many to hit the great outdoors.

But for many farmers, that prospect is making them very nervous, due to a change in a law before the Victorian parliament.

That amendment will allow anyone to camp on more than 25,000km of river banks throughout the state that are licensed for a farmer to use as part of their farm.

As it is, although the public has right of access to river banks, which is crown land, they can’t camp overnight on them.

But this new law, that could pass the Upper House today, will change that.

And that is worrying farmers, with fears of rubbish being left behind and, worse, the possibility of campfires being left unattended.

“Victorian farmers have invested hundreds of millions over the years in revegetating and protecting river and creek frontages,” VFF Livestock Group president Leonard Vallance told The Weekly Times.

“Now they (the Government) want to open it up to uncontrolled camping to become a wasteland.”

The push for camping access is being led by the recreational fishing lobby group, VRFish, which says it is unfair that farmers can exclude Victorians from camping on public land.

“Fishers have been missing out on the enjoyment of fishing along hundreds of kilometres of our rivers because of a systemic misunderstanding of public access requirements,” says VRFish chair Rob Loats.

VRFish says farmers pay only a small fee for the licence to graze the river banks — sometimes less than what fishers pay for their annual fishing licence.

The amendment is expected to pass the Upper House, where independents, including the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, hold the balance of power.

The Coalition is trying to insert an amendment that would grant farmers the power to veto anyone wanting to camp on water frontages adjoining their land, if they felt there was a risk to their livestock, the public’s safety or an environmental risk.

There is also a push from farmers for a permit system, with potential campers required to register when and where they want to camp.

But fishers say that is unreasonable, taking out the spontaneity of a trip and the need to move along the river bank to find a suitable spot.

This is a doozy of a clash, with neither party seemingly holding the whip hand.

Some farmers are already reluctant to allow the public to cross their farms to get to a swimming spot. They will be even less keen on campers staying overnight.

So even if the law changes, keen campers may face padlocked gates in their attempt to get away from months of lockdown.

• Ed Gannon is Editor of The Weekly Times

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