Yet Another Fee Hike in Oz

[monte]

Imported termites often aren't used to the Australian diet. It's better to put them to sleep peacefully than have them suffer a long slow agonising death trying to digest eucalyptus trees.
It's all about the environment, big and small

[socaldmax]

I don't think anyone with a wooden boat should go to Australia.

Seems like they have a bigger problem with termites than other countries...





Are you guys SURE they're trying to keep termites out? It seems a little late to be worrying about that now.


LOL

[weavis]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Hyperbole alert! Hyperbole alert!!

Ive long been a lover of Westerlys........ I have never been aboard a Sealord. Can you tell me its attraction for you?

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by weavis

Ive long been a lover of Westerlys........ I have never been aboard a Sealord. Can you tell me its attraction for you?

Bugger all attraction at the moment... ashore at Gulf Harbour, Unzud, having full osmo treatment, then dropping the keel, then into the shed for a paint and replacing the treadmaster, along the way fitting new cooker, sorting the fridge, fixing the autopilot, new chainplate fittings at deck level,..... and then of course we have to deal with the termites ( best we stay 'on thread').

Brilliant seaboat ... has carried me a lot of miles in high latitudes and more than a few in middle lats .. wouldn't swap her for quids. Good load carrier...no probs stowing 3 months tucker for a crew of four in Patagonia.

OK she is old and a bit shagged but then so am I...

[weavis]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Bugger all attraction at the moment... ashore at Gulf Harbour, Unzud, having full osmo treatment, then dropping the keel, then into the shed for a paint and replacing the treadmaster, along the way fitting new cooker, sorting the fridge, fixing the autopilot, new chainplate fittings at deck level,..... and then of course we have to deal with the termites ( best we stay 'on thread').

Brilliant seaboat ... has carried me a lot of miles in high latitudes and more than a few in middle lats .. wouldn't swap her for quids. Good load carrier...no probs stowing 3 months tucker for a crew of four in Patagonia.

OK she is old and a bit shagged but then so am I...

I just looked on Youtube....... what a great ship!

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Nope, the $380 covers Customs, Immigration and Quarantine services.

The only additional fee you MIGHT incur is if your boat has a high proportion of timber in it's construction, and you've recently visited a "high risk" country. You may require a termite inspection.

This can be pretty expensive. And if your boat has termites treatment can be VERY expensive.

AFAIK foreign boats can stay for 11 months with no inspection though. (Which seems a bit weird to me.)

Presumably this is the TERMITE inspection - and yes, it does sound weird - but I guess even Oz has some weird guvmit arrangements

Originally Posted by weavis

Therein makes the whole process a tax and not what it is purported to be.
Sold as 'safety for Australia'.

Its all pants.

The AQIS inspection is always carried out on entry. Technically even the custom and immigration guys can't come on board until AQIS has signed off on their inspection.

Usually all three are carried out concurrently but with shipping especially, AQIS have been known to pull rank on Customs/Immigration on a Friday afternoon if they want to get away early or if it's coming up to a long weekend. Other times if there is a young over-officious Customs guy new to town, the AQIS lads have been known to prevent his entry onto the ship until they have finished. Customs have never really liked the fact that they are third fiddle in the trio.

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Hyperbole alert! Hyperbole alert!!
Two questions.. 1/ what happen to all the people? Crocs et em??
2/ What do imported termites have that Oz ones don't?
Termite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Termites In Australia » Termidor (scroll down for the map..

Two answers

1. The other people are enjoying the solitude of their own isolated anchorage. When I lived in the Cape York Peninsular ('70/'80s), there was an unwritten code of conduct that went like this: If you were going to the beach for a day and there was already someone at the chosen beach, you chuffed off and found another one that was "empty". Just the way it was

2. The imported termites don't have a visa or any other right of entry

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Wotname

2. The imported termites don't have a visa or any other right of entry

Ah... a bit like the boat people from SE Asia being given a hard time by the Ten Pound boat people from Europe......

[weavis]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Ah... a bit like the boat people from SE Asia being given a hard time by the Ten Pound boat people from Europe......

Er no.
The tenner jobbies were invited.

It is a TENNER after all. The other buggers came in for free!

[El Pinguino]

Costing the new boat people more than a tenner

[shufti]

So let me get this right - it costs a visiting boat $380 for (essentially) a 12month pass to all Oz waters? It cost me (an aus. citizen) $437.40/yr rego for my boat (in QLD).

I'm failing to summon a tear. Sorry. There is an easy way to avoid paying the fee though.

[Jim Cate]

Nope, the $380 covers Customs, Immigration and Quarantine services.

Nope again: the 380 bucks goes only to AQIS, the other two services are free of charge.

As AQIS ought to be!

BTW, here's another thing that really sticks in my craw: The severe penalties for non-business hours inspection seemed sort of reasonable... until I asked an innocent question of the agent who was inspecting us the one time I screwed up and arrived on a weekend. I said "this extra expense is kinda a drag, but I'm glad you get some premium overtime for getting turfed out of your Sunday dinner" or some such. I was astonished by his answer: "Oh no, we don't get overtime for this, just our standard pay. We all have to stand weekend duties as part of our job."

So, it appears that the double fee just goes into the general fund as gravy and is not directed to the folks whose lives are disturbed by our untimely arrival. I think that sucks.

Oh well, I still like it here and will likely continue to cruise in Oz. I don't have to agree with all the policies and practices to do so.

Jim

[weavis]

Originally Posted by shufti

So let me get this right - it costs a visiting boat $380 for (essentially) a 12month pass to all Oz waters? It cost me (an aus. citizen) $437.40/yr rego for my boat (in QLD).

I'm failing to summon a tear. Sorry. There is an easy way to avoid paying the fee though.

Er....... everyone else has to register and pay taxes and insurance on their boat too....
All the little costs add up. its "only $380"...... its only a 3% rise in electricity, its only this, its only that......
Its OzGov job to govern. When they run out of things to do they raise revenue anywhere. Everyone has to suck it up. They engender the thought of it being "fair".

In the UK they have run a campaign of it being a "moral" thing to do... its not, its an imposition and a law. I wouldnt mind if they managed my contribution carefully, but they dont. And then they hit us for more tax to cover the mistakes or wanton spending they do.

In the end its $380. Either pay it dont go. Just dont try and make me believe its fair, or for the reasons they say its for because of political correctness.
d'ats all.

[BandB]

Fact is we have lots of taxes and fees. Most are mandatory. Some, like this one, is optional by not going there. Regardless they're a fact of life and ranting about them doesn't change anything. Write letters if you wish to spend your time that way. If it's your residence, vote, but that's not going to make some huge change wherever you are. You live with it. For South Florida fees and taxes on boats entering would have a huge economic impact. That's why no property tax and a limit on sales tax. But really Australia isn't going to care one way or another whether one chooses to sail there or not. If you choose to bypass them, then so be it.

As we live a short ride from the Bahamas we hear the moaning and groaning as their fees increase. In their case it is a big deal as they need those revenues from the fees. And the vast majority of people still go just as they would have before. But you want a boaters and fishing paradise you pay to go there.

[monte]

I'd guess over half of the people affected by this would be Aussies arriving home from overseas anyway and they don't seem to care too much about it..

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by BandB

Fact is we have lots of taxes and fees. Most are mandatory. Some, like this one, is optional by not going there. Regardless they're a fact of life and ranting about them doesn't change anything. Write letters if you wish to spend your time that way. If it's your residence, vote, but that's not going to make some huge change wherever you are. You live with it. For South Florida fees and taxes on boats entering would have a huge economic impact. That's why no property tax and a limit on sales tax. But really Australia isn't going to care one way or another whether one chooses to sail there or not. If you choose to bypass them, then so be it.

As we live a short ride from the Bahamas we hear the moaning and groaning as their fees increase. In their case it is a big deal as they need those revenues from the fees. And the vast majority of people still go just as they would have before. But you want a boaters and fishing paradise you pay to go there.

Everything you posted is true, and $380 really isn't a lot of money especially if there are no other fees, etc to visit there. However, it's nice to know what to expect before hand. Without threads like this I'd have to do some digging to find out.

To refine your last statement, you're not paying for a boater's and fishing paradise, you're paying for government regulation of the area. The paradise used to be free, until someone came along and said we need to regulate this, charge fees and ruin it with bureaucracy.