Queensland Surfing Subsidised By State

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30953, 8 January 1966, Page 11

Queensland Surfing Subsidised By State

VyiTH surf bathing reach- ’’ ing new heights of popularity, the time is right for the New Zealand Government to take another look at its somewhat meagre contribution to the guardian of the Dominion’s beaches, the surf life-saving movement.

In fact it could do well to consider the atttiude of the Queensland State Government, as outlined by Mr W. Hand, the official recorder of the touring Queensland surf team which competed with distinction at Taylor’s Mistake on Monday. Every club in Queensland sends an audited account of its income to the State Government each year and is rewarded with a subsidy of 7s 6d in the £. This is paid to the controlling body of surfing in the State, the Queensland State centre, and the money is divided on a proportional basis among the clubs. In the opinion of Mr Hand, this is one of the main reasons why surf lifesaving in Queensland is on such a sound financial footing. He said that the clubhouses were generally much more substantial than most of the ones he had seen on New Zealand beaches.

In fact the Queensland state centre’s finances are so good that it was able to purchase a £25,000 building for its headquarters a short time ago and it has already paid £14,000 off its loan.

Quite apart from the subsidy, finances are extremely efficiently handled in Queensland, the leading surfing state. As charitable organisations under the Charities Act, surf life-saving clubs are able to raffle several cars a year, they run dances and, unlike New Zealand, generally charge spectators to watch carnivals. All income derived from these activities is subject to the 7s 6d Government subsidy.

On a national basis there is a Surf Life-Saving Appeals Committee which has a paid promoter with a fully equipped office to organise money raising schemes. It is common for this committee to be raffling four or five cars at once.

Much of the gear used by clubs is donated by business firms, which gain free advertising by having their names painted on the equipment. This reduces costs appreciably. “In Queensland surf lifesaving is regarded as a number one essential for the safety of the people,” Mr Hand, who is an executive member of the state centre and vice-president of the South Coast Branch, told “The Press.” There were a tremendous number of “new Australians” and they had no idea of the danger of the surf and one of the most important tasks of the surf movement was the education of the public, he said.