Troubled waters grip Coast Guard
MEMBERS of the Port Welshpool Coast Guard are pleased the State Government could address funding inequity issues that are resulting in Coast Guard volunteers resigning, leaving stricken boaters at risk.
Coast Guard flotillas, including those at Port Welshpool and Port Albert, are responsible for funding themselves.
Port Welshpool flotilla commander Rocco Maruzza said the unit loses many members because of the incessant need to source funding.
“A lot of my and members’ time is spent chasing money, just to keep afloat. It is hard doing chook raffles once a week, every week. It is easy to get burnt out,” he said.
“Basically, all we should do is train and rescue people, not go out looking for funding all the time in order to survive.”
Coast Guard Victoria has now resumed normal operations after initial strike action was taken in early February, when the parliamentary inquiry into marine rescue services in Victoria failed to satisfy them.
The Coast Guard wanted to be recognised by the State Government and Emergency Management Victoria as an official emergency service, with appropriate funding.
Unlike SES or CFA, the Coast Guard is not covered by any state legislative insurance framework and is responsible for providing its own insurance to protect members.
Representatives of Coast Guard Victoria and Boating Industry Association of Victoria met with Minister for Emergency Services Jane Garrett and Emergency Management Victoria commissioner Craig Lapsley recently.
At the meeting, the State Government committed to assisting the Coast Guard and will be starting a consultative process to resolve all outstanding issues.
Mr Maruzza said the government should provide funding for equipment, insurance, maintenance and if training was provided by external sources.
“We are used by a lot of different groups. We are supposed to be an emergency service, yet we are not treated like one,” he said.
“We don’t have a large population to draw from and a lot of my people work full time, so it is hard for them to dedicate the amount of time it takes to run a flotilla.”
The Port Welshpool Coast Guard rescues around 100 people a year and now, with their larger vessel they are able to cover a larger area, which will most likely increase the workload.
“It is not just recreational fishermen and boaters we rescue. There are a lot of kayakers who launch from Port Welshpool and we even rescue walkers at the Prom,” Mr Maruzza said.
“Port Welshpool is not really a safe boating area. Past the Long Jetty is classed as open water and conditions can change very quickly out there.
“A lot of people probably wouldn’t launch their boats from Port Welshpool if there wasn’t a Coast Guard here.”
Mr Maruzza said he would be happy just to have insurance costs covered.
“For us personally the big costs are insurance and vessel, maintenance and equipment costs,” he said.
“If they had to pay people to do what we do, it would cost a lot of money. We are all volunteers. I am on call 24 hours, seven days a week and have been for the last five years.”
Mr Maruzza said the Coast Guard needs to be classed as an emergency service, because even though it is, it is not treated like one financially.
“The whole marine rescue industry in Victoria consists of only around 1200 people. It wouldn’t take a lot of money to get it right. There just needs to be some will from the government,” he said.
South Gippsland Shire Council currently annually contributes $3000 or 10 per cent of the ticket machine takings to the Port Welshpool Coast Guard.
“Council has also provided the Coast Guard with assistance through Community Grants in past years and will continue to assess their submissions in the future,” a council spokesperson said.
On the water: Port Welshpool Volunteer Coast Guard flotilla commander Rocco Maruzza said he is hopeful the State Government will recognise the organisation as an emergency service and fund it accordingly.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Mar 22 2016. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
