Coochiemudlo Island’s Ferry Issues: Why should services be cut?
By Angela Hoskins
Early morning photo of the ferry terminal at Victoria Point, looking out to Coochiemudlo Island. Photo by Gary Sheehy
Communities in the Brisbane region expect to have access to an efficient and accessible transport service. Local and state governments share the responsibility of administering an integrated transport systems to communities. Not far from Brisbane, on the Redlands Coast, there are many island communities that are reliant on ferry services to get to the mainland and back to their island home. Coochiemudlo Island, with a population of about 850 residents, is one of these islands and the community is currently very concerned about changes to the island’s ferry service.
The initial post to Facebook about these timetable changes was made by a resident. It was a plea to Amity Trader (the community’s ferry operator) not to make any cuts to the ferry service. Subsequent posts expressed concern, fear, and/or rage. Some residents in the know tried to offer perspective relating to the issue. Some of the posts put blame onto Redland City Council because their ferry landing fee hikes (more about this below), while pointing out RCC’s lack of communication about this matter. Maybe it was just too early in the proceedings for our local government rep to have informed the community first. Potentially, because of how the information has been disseminated, the community has mobilised into action to help save our ferry service. To say that it has created a kerkuffle is an understatement.
The Facebook posts also included information about a survey for residents to complete about the ferry timetable. The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) asked for this survey, a possible attempt to tick the community consultation box. Fare and timetable changes to a transport service need to be approved by local and state governments. Amity Trader setup the survey and made it available for passengers to complete, on an tablet, on the ferry. Some residents questioned the effectiveness of what the survey was actually asking. It didn’t offer the chance to input the detail required to properly outline the concern they are feeling. TMR offered no guidelines about how to create an effective survey. Amity Trader have done their best to comply, follow through with TMR’s instructions. Setting up community surveys isn’t part of their expertise.
As an island, Coochiemudlo could be considered as remote. However, the island is located only about 1 km from the mainland, and Brisbane is only 40 km away with many residents who work and attend school on the mainland. Residents understand the lifestyle limitations of living on the island when they make the decision to live here: there are no supermarkets, schools, or medical services. For years, Amity Trader has provided an excellent ferry transport service, integral to the lives of residents, which no doubt has influenced anyone’s decision to move to Coochiemudlo. People understand that the costs for this service would have to increase over time, like any goods or services.
The ability to adapt to change is a skill we all need to learn, or prepare for, at some point in life. The way that change is presented to a community or an individual impacts how easily the change accepted. In relation to the likely changes to Coochiemudlo Island’s ferry timetable, it helps to understand the background and facts about why changes will likely occur.
Key facts about ferry services in the Redlands Coast
On the Redlands Coast, ferry services to North Stradbroke Island and Coochiemudlo Island are provided by a private operator. Other islands in this region are grouped as the Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBI) and are serviced by a SeaLink service to and from Redland Bay. This means that Russell, Macleay, Karragarra and Lamb Islands are part of Queensland public transport system with Go Card integration.
Landing fees — and an elephant in the room
All ferry operators on the Redlands Coast incur Redlands City Council landing fees to cover the maintenance and depreciation of ferry terminals. These fees can be increased mid contract. This means that a ferry operator can sign a contract for a multi-year period without knowing what it is going to cost for their landing fees, year by year.
An elephant in the room:
How on earth can any small business stay viable if it is hit by skyrocketing, operational government fees that can be increased mid contract?
Amity Trader started providing water transport to Coochiemudlo Island in 2016. Back then the landing fee was $8,000.
This 2022, Amity Trader’s annual ferry landing fee was about $157,000. Later that year the fee was increased ten-fold – a huge hike in anyone’s thinking. Their annual fee for providing the island’s ferry service in 2024 is approximately $247,000 .
In 2025 the landing fee will rise significantly again, to $316,000.
The increases to landing fees has drained away the chance for a ferry operator to make the necessary profits needed to operate and maintain a safe transport service.
Landing fees are calculated per trip. Amity Trader currently runs approximately sixty ferry trips a day, to and from Coochiemudlo Island and Victoria Point. Landing fees are currently calculated at approximately $9.50 per trip.
Considering these landing fees, it makes sense for Amity Trader to make cuts to their timetable, especially to times when there are few or perhaps no passengers on board. The business needs to stay viable.
Historical changes to the ferry timetable
Pre Covid, the last ferry at night was scheduled to leave Victoria Point at 11.30pm which meant that anyone attending a night-time event in Brisbane city could generally expect to get back in time to catch the last ferry home. This timeslot also worked for health professionals doing shiftwork on the mainland. The schedule changed in 2020, because of Covid, when the last ferry time slot left Victoria Point at 10.30 pm. Since then, options for having a night on the mainland include either cutting the night short to catch the last ferry home, or staying over with family or friends, booking a hotel, or sleeping in the car. These are not options that suit everyone. But then Covid did bring many changes to our lifestyle that we adapted to.
Back in the 1980s and 90s the ferry to and from the island ran intermittently and finished at about 7.00pm. A night out on mainland was out of the question back then, unless you stayed over. Nevertheless, longtime residents of a certain age can lament days gone by, the simple rhythm of life on Coochiemudlo back then. Many current residents, unaffected by potential or impending cut to the ferry timetable, continue to enjoy this same simple rhythm.
But life in the twenty-first century, is certainly more complicated than in decades gone by. For many island residents who work on the mainland, or who have children at school, or those simply reliant on the current ferry timetable, the talk of the cuts to the timetable has come with a shock.
Adapting to change can be difficult. It helps to know and understand what the facts are about what is happening, and understanding the ‘here and now’ of any situation. A strong community like that on Coochiemudlo mobilises to be part of addressing change that impacts them.
A community meeting has been scheduled for Saturday 10 August to discuss the ferry timetable. It is hoped that government representatives will attend to give information and answer questions.
Update: See the outcomes of the meeting on 10 August.
State and local government in the news for all the wrong reasons
— and additional info about landing fee hikes
An article in the Redland City Bulletin from 19 August 2022 reported on a slinging match between the then state transport minister, Mark Bailey, previous mayor of Redland City Council, Karen Williams. Bailey accused Williams of a revenue grab in relation to RCC’s hike in landing fees. Bailey accused Williams of refusing to come to the table to help reduce the cost for ferry operators. Amity Trader and Coochiemudlo Island were noted in the article along with this quote from the transport minister, ‘I was shocked to learn that under the council and the disgraced Mayor, these landing fees have spiked by 88 per cent for the financial [year].’
Since then, until now, there has been little in the public realm about these rising landing fees, nor how the state government and Redland City Council are working together to overcome difficulties brought on my these high landing fees. No one can dispute that costs for maintaining infrastructure like ferry terminal would go up over time. However, some detailed figures about these maintenance costs would be helpful for the community considering how they are impacting Amity Trader and consequently the Coochiemudlo community.
In attempting to to analyse the facts, there’s a question that is ‘the elephant in the room’: How on earth can any small business stay viable if it is hit by skyrocketing, operational government fees that can be increased mid contract?
Amity Trader is perhaps the real casualty in this scenario. As our ferry service operator, with complex obligations and financial overheads, it has most at stake. Let’s hope the relevant government bodies can make some changes towards a resolution, and that fairness and understanding prevails.
A public meeting for the community and stakeholders was organised by the Coochiemudlo Progress Association.
Photo credit: Gary Sheehy
