Australian Customs take a hostile stance to visiting yachtspeople

Created by doina. Last modified on 2007-02-05 19:18:12
Countries: Australia

It appears that the Australian Customs and Quarantine service are imposing unrealistic conditions of entry on foreign flagged yachts wishing to visit Australia. New protocols seem to require that such yachts notify Australian Customs some 96 hours prior to entry. Notification should be by email since it appears Customs do not respond to HF calls and such yachts would be well out of VHF range.

An unconfirmed report describes a Dutch yacht was told to enter port and then its skipper and crew fined and charged with unlawful entry. If true, such an action smacks of entrapment. Such actions by the Australian Customs - if correct - would appear to breach common law rules of natural justice. They may also breach international covenants and agreements of free entry of persons without let or hindrance. However, it would be an expensive legal battle to establish whether or not the Australian government was in breach.

All yachts wishing to enter Australian waters might to well to check the situation for themselves before entering Australisan waters and then deciding whether or not to proceed to visit Australia.

We have prepared a word file and a PDF of the article that will be printed in The Coastal Passage on the customs issue. The piece is a report from three sources of people that have been busted and prosecuted for failure to report 96 hours in advance. Also copies from Customs web site indicating that ships have a far less restrictive regime to follow than yachts!

The Coastal Passage is available online and also printed and distributed free to marinas, clubs etc nationally.

Chris Ayres