• Premier Steven Miles to boost boating, camping and fishing with $100 million investment.
  • Plan delivers more fish for Moreton Bay weekend family fishing, free annual passes to fish at stocked dams across Queensland, better camping facilities and quadrupling grant funding to recreational fishing clubs
  • Includes $30 million Boaties’ Infrastructure Fund to deliver more ramps, pontoons, car parks and ramp cams

Premier Steven Miles is today backing Queensland’s most popular and iconic pastimes – boating, camping and fishing.

Labor’s Better Boating Camping and Fishing plan will make it cheaper and easier for families to cast a line and reel in a fish on the end of it.

With over one million recreational boat licence holders in Queensland, it’s clear that more opportunities for quality recreational fishing are needed.

The Better Boating Camping and Fishing plan includes:

  • Building new, accessible boat ramps and car parks to make it easier to get out on the water
  • Free annual pass to fish in dams, with more stocked dams, more fish stock and better recreational facilities for campers and anglers alike
  • Net Free Zone Fund to establish new net free fishing zones in Moreton Bay after community consultation, to make more fish available for recreational fishers while protecting dugongs, turtles and dolphins

The combination of net free fishing zones in Moreton Bay to be implemented after community consultation, alongside the recently announced net free zone in the Mary River and removal of gillnets from the Great Barrier Reef by 2027, will give recreational fishers access to a bigger, better supply of fish.

And with more boat ramps, better parking and ramp cams to check conditions, punters can get out on the water with ease.

Only Labor will do what matters to preserve our environment and lifestyle now and for future generations.

The LNP only seek to take Queensland backwards. The LNP were the masterminds of some of the largest rollbacks of environmental protections since Federation.

When last in government, they cut 28 per cent of Queensland Boating and Fishing Patrol and Fisheries Queensland staff.

And, they voted against net free fishing zones in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton.

“A day on the water is quintessentially Queensland.

“And I’m doing what matters to make that experience world-class.

“Our plan, if elected, will mean bigger fish biting more often and easier access to the water.

“This announcement is about getting more Queenslanders out and about, enjoying everything that makes our state great.”

Steven Miles

Premier

“There’s nothing better than throwing a line into Queensland’s wonderful waterways, and the Miles Labor Government will make that easier and more accessible than ever.

“Our Government is committed to making sure fishing is fun and sustainable, so that Queenslanders can enjoy it today, but their children and grandchildren can well into the future.”

Mark Furner

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities

Further information:

BOAT RAMPS AND CAR PARKS: A new $30 MILLION Boating Infrastructure fund to deliver the ramps, carpark upgrades and ramp cams to help boaties check conditions.

BIGGER FISH, MORE BITES: $38 MILLION to make Moreton Bay and Mary River gillnet free. Builds on three new net free zones in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton.  Means there will be bigger fish biting more often, and better protections for iconic species like dugongs, turtles and dolphins.

FREE ANNUAL PASS FOR FISHING IN DAMS: $8 MILLION to add Paradise Dam, Enoggera Reservior and Mt Morgan No. 7 Dam to the stocked dam scheme. And, make permits to fish in these locations free for four years. We’ll also be restocking our fingerling supply, and adding more and new species.

BETTER DAMS – SUNWATER: $24.5 MILLION to continue to upgrade lookouts, new facilities, camp grounds, playgrounds, BBQ areas and improve boat ramps and access roads at our 17 Sunwater dams.

LOCAL FISHING CLUBS: $4 MILLION for local fishing club grants to promote fishing in our community and teach more kids to fish, and we will continue to invest in on-shore fishing infrastructure like cleaning tables, gear disposal, shelters, camp facilities to support anglers and lighting and security.

BOATING, CAMPING AND FISHING ADVISORY COMMITTEE: to elevate the importance of these issues in government decision making, and to give anglers, boaties and outdoor recreation groups a seat at the table.