The NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen – one of the driving forces behind the recent introduction of the highest Jet Ski licence fees in the world – has spoken publicly for the first time about the changes.
In an interview with Watercraft Zone at the 2024 Sydney Boat Show this morning, Minister Haylen answered key questions of interest to the NSW Jet Ski community.
The NSW Jet Ski community has been outraged by the new fees that came into force on 1 July 2024.
When the price of a 10-year Jet Ski licence in NSW eclipsed $1000 three years ago, it set a new world record.
But the NSW Government has just shattered this record by increasing the cost of a 10-year Jet Ski licence from $1043 to $1961 – a staggering increase of 88 per cent, even though the current rate of inflation is 5.9 per cent.
A one-year Jet Ski licence in NSW has also hit a new high – $245 annually, versus $45 for a one-year licence in Victoria, and $124 for a lifetime licence in Queensland.
Our interview with Minster Haylen occurred immediately after her speech to the boating industry before the doors to the Sydney Boat Show opened for Day Two this morning.
We have included Minister Haylen’s speech after our interview below.
Watercraft Zone: Why did Jet Ski licence and registration fees in NSW increase at a greater rate than boating fees?
Minster Haylen: Firstly it’s the class of vessel that we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the numbers.
Watercraft Zone: But wouldn’t the increase in Jet Ski numbers also increase revenue from Jet Ski rider licences and registration fees?
Minister Haylen: Secondly they are the type of vessel that requires additional resources when it comes to compliance.
We have unfortunately seen accidents, including fatal accidents, involving personal watercraft and that’s why Maritime requires these additional resources.
Every single cent of licence and boating fees goes back into our Waterways Fund, for those safety and compliance measures, as well as investment in the infrastructure that boaters need.
Watercraft Zone: Do you acknowledge not all Jet Ski riders behave badly, and in fact most are safe law-abiding riders?
Minister Haylen: The vast majority of everyone out on our waterways is there for a good time and a safe time, and I’m so pleased that people also take a lot of personal responsibility and look out for each other. We want to see more of that.
But we also need to make sure we have our boating safety officers out and about, so that people know what the rules are, and are doing the right thing to stay safe.
Watercraft Zone: To be clear you’re not trying to price Jet Skis out of existence?
Minister Haylen: Absolutely not. We want everybody out on our waterways having a good time, but doing it safely.
Watercraft Zone: The NSW Government says part of the reason for the increased Jet Ski licence and registration fees, is because authorities need more resources. But wouldn’t the NSW Government have gotten extra revenue from the extra registrations due to growth in the sport over the past three years?
Minster Haylen: Overall, 90 per cent of all of our boat and personal watercraft users only received a (licence fee) increase of $35 or less.
We don’t want to unduly place too much burden on anyone. We know that it is a difficult time but, ultimately, we have to make sure that we have the resources to keep everybody safe.
Watercraft Zone: So just to be clear, you’re not trying to price Jet Skis out of existence?
Minister Haylen: We want everyone out on our waterways having a great time. And doing it safely, including those on Jet Skis.
Watercraft Zone: There were reports the NSW Government was considering a review of the boat and Jet Ski licence fee increases that came into force on 1 July 2024. Will there be a review?
Minster Haylen: The fees have come into effect, and every single cent of those fees will go back into compliance and the assets.
The only issue we are looking at are those waterway users whose waterways are subject to regular environmental impacts.
For example, in far west NSW where there are rivers and lakes that sometimes don’t have any water in them. I think it’s only reasonable that, if you can’t actually use your boat, you might get some level of respite, but we are working through that.
Watercraft Zone: But in terms of the new boat and Jet Ski licence fee structure, that’s not going to change?
Minister Haylen: We needed to make this change because the Waterways Fund needs to support those activities and the infrastructure. There’s no point being able to put your beautiful vessel or Jet Ski on a trailer and there’s no ramp to access the waterway, or that it’s not up to scratch.
We’ve got a real maintenance backlog. So I appreciate it’s tough for people, but we also need to make sure it’s going to work for them as well.
NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen speech to the boating sector:
NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen addressed the boating industry during the official welcome for the 2024 Sydney Boat Show (held on the morning of day two of the event, Friday 2 August 2024).
Below is an edited transcript.
We want to celebrate how we can enjoy our waterways, the incredible economic benefit that (boating) brings to our state, but also how we can all do that safely together as well.
(Boating) is such an important part of what the people across our state love to do. And we want to do it with them safely.
We want to make sure we are ready for the next season and that we do that safely.
We want to make sure that when we come together, we always talk about the ways that we can improve safety for everybody and ultimately reduce fatalities on our waterways.
Last year, we lost 15 people (in boating accidents). That’s well short of our target because our target is zero.
We know the biggest thing we can do that the most important thing we can do to save lives is wear a lifejacket – 12 out of 15 of those fatalities weren’t wearing a life jacket.
I want to thank Transport for NSW, Marine Rescue the NSW Police Force and the Boating Industry Association for their commitment to reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our waterways.
We have a collective goal and we’re doing the work to achieve that. Firstly, by delivering better boating facilities that are going to make boating safer.
We’re doing community education campaigns to help people make better decisions, including wearing a lifejacket when they’re out on the water.
And of course leveraging technology to support enforcement and safer access.
On the waterways last year our maritime boating safety officers conducted over 45,000 vessel safety inspections.
Our boating education officers connected with over 60,000 people and 72 per cent of those people live in our regions (away from coastal waters).
We’ve got to make sure we’re reaching well into our state with our education and safety campaigns as well.
The NSW Police in partnership with Transport have provided over a thousand hours of additional patrols through the Maritime Enhanced Enforcement Program.
And Marine Rescue NSW continues to aid and support boaters during water emergencies through their 3400 volunteers at key locations across NSW.
Each year, they respond to over 200,000 distress calls made for assistance, conducting over 4500 search and rescue operations … and Marine Rescue can assist in the safe return of thousands of boaters back to shore.
So we should be very proud of this collective commitment to safety. And also I’m incredibly thankful – as I’m sure all of you are – to these officers and the many volunteers that help us keep safe on our waterways.
Of course, these activities do come at a cost and on the 1st of July this year we made the very difficult decision to increase fees for boat registrations and licences. And I know many people were disappointed about that decision.
But it was a really necessary change, because we need to make sure that we can continue to conduct these really critical activities.
We need to make sure that we have operations on our waterways, but at the same time also invest in the infrastructure that we need.
Every single cent of these registration and license fees goes directly towards the Waterways Fund.
That funds critical maritime activities and also builds the infrastructure and maintains the infrastructure that we need.
The boat ramps, the wharves, the things that make our beautiful waterways accessible to everybody, particularly the elderly, particularly people with disability.
Our waterways are for everybody, and we have a big responsibility to do that. I’m really mindful of my responsibility to make sure that those funds are used responsibly for the boating community.
Today I’m really pleased to announce that the NSW Government is committing $44 million to a new boating and dredging scheme.
We want to support the delivery of much needed boating infrastructure and dredging works across NSW.
This newly funded scheme replaces the previous Boating Now program and will provide $28 million in new funding towards improvements over four years – and an additional $16 million for dredging works across the state.
The new boating infrastructure for communities grants program will provide funding to councils and community groups to improve boating access infrastructure for boaters.
This new program responds to the review of the Boating Now program, which acts on this important community feedback – particularly about everybody having access to the water.
The scheme also allocates $3 million towards boating infrastructure maintenance, because you can have the best boat or boat ramp or wharf in the world, but it’s not worth much if it’s not maintained properly.
So those funds are going to make sure that we can do that really important work.
Boating grants will continue to be available through the emergency repair pool as well.
We know we need to prepare for extreme weather events. It’s going to keep happening and we need to make sure that all communities are supported, particularly when they experience some of the floods that we’re seeing across our state.
Now there isn’t a boater that I haven’t spoken to that hasn’t talked to me about the importance of dredging.
And I’ve got to say that we are taking a really proactive approach to this. We don’t want to be in a situation, yet again, when we are taking a … major crisis response, putting in a band-aid solution.
We want a long term solution so that you can sail up and down our coastline and enter any channel or port or harbour safely, but also that we’re not inconveniencing or shutting down business, that our tourists and people alike can access everything that there is on offer.
Our $16 million scheme is going to make sure that places like Swansea and Ettalong, Coffs Harbour, Myall River (etc) are accessible to everybody. And there’s more money in the fund for new projects.
We’ll continue to develop our 10-year-long plan, so that we can make sure that all of these waterways are accessible when you need them.
This will be a game-changer about the way we approach the management of our maritime assets.
And I’m so pleased that we’ve been able to work really well with the entire industry to make sure that this is going to be a reality.
We know we have the most beautiful waterways in the world. This program is going to help support local communities, plan for, maintain, and build the boating infrastructure that we need, so that everyone can have a fabulous time out on the water.
Watercraft Zone approached the head of NSW Maritime at the 2024 Sydney Boat Show for an updated statement – now that increased Jet Ski licence fees have been in force for a month – but the department resent a previous statement on the issue which we have published before.
NSW Maritime acknowledges the concerns regarding fee increases and their impact on our customers. However, ensuring the safety of everyone on our waterways remains our top priority.
General Boat and PWC Licence and Registrations will increase in 2024 to ensure Maritime is able to continue providing critical services and provide ongoing investments into boating safety initiatives and support ongoing asset maintenance.
The fee increase will support a range of Maritime activities, including Maritime’s on-water safety and compliance operations, and investment in critical assets to promote safe and accessible boating across.
The 2024 increase combines both the latest annual CPI adjustment and also general price increases for General Boat and PWC Licence and Registrations into one change to minimise disruption to our customers.
Personal watercraft (PWC) users will be subject to the largest fee increase due to a large increase in the number of PWC rider on NSW waterways and higher costs to regulate this segment of boaters.
We aim to keep these changes reasonable while still meeting our safety obligations and ensuring the sustainability of our operations. Over 90 per cent of customers will face an increase of less than $35 annually.
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