Thursday, 20 November 2025

 Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (09:42): Echuca–Moama is a key tourist destination in Victoria, with over 1.5 million visitors each year; 770,000 of those actually stay overnight. I was very pleased to be part of a previous government that, with our federal colleagues, invested substantial funds in upgrading the Echuca wharf and the facilities there. We have recently had the PS Melbourne return to Echuca after 60 years in Mildura, and we have the PS Australian Star, a new luxury boat for overnight cruises, coming to Echuca shortly. But there is a risk to all that, as since that major upgrade the port has become very silted up. The wet dock particularly is silted, and I can say that inertia is stopping it happening or, more correctly, red and green tape is stopping that wet dock from being cleaned out. We now have some of the actual port that is not accessible by paddle-steamers because of that silt, and particularly the PS Melbourne, which has come back to Echuca, cannot get a guaranteed berth there to be able to take on passengers. That is a major risk, particularly with the busy Christmas–New Year period coming up, because the current stock of paddle-steamers cannot cater to the demand on some days, and tragically, some people who come to Echuca miss out on a paddle-steamer trip. So we need that silt removed so the PS Melbourne can actually get a wharf and, when the PS Australian Star arrives, it can also get a wharf at the jetty there, to make sure it is used.