{"id":439672,"date":"2026-01-27T01:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T01:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/439672\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T01:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T01:26:13","slug":"noosa-houseboats-forced-off-river-as-new-maritime-rules-take-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/439672\/","title":{"rendered":"Noosa houseboats forced off river as new maritime rules take effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

A David and Goliath battle is playing out on the multi-million-dollar shores of the Noosa River, where dozens of houseboat residents say they are being forced out and potentially into financial ruin.<\/p>\n

Since New Year’s Day, Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) has been rolling out the final stage of its Noosa River Management Plan, which restricts boats larger than 5 metres from anchoring in the river for longer than 28 days.<\/p>\n

\"Houseboats<\/p>\n

Houseboats on the Noosa River. (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)<\/p>\n

For dozens of people living on the river, it may mean they have until tomorrow to remove their boats or face hefty fines.<\/p>\n

They also risk the potential removal and disposal of their homes and property by authorities.<\/p>\n

More than 20 boats have already been towed, including several that were taken straight to the tip.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Sally Hayes says people will be left without somewhere to live. (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)<\/p>\n

Sally Hayes lives in a houseboat on the river.<\/p>\n

She said many of those affected had nowhere else to go and no way of paying to crane, relocate or store the boats elsewhere.<\/p>\n

“There are people who’ve lived on this river for 35 years,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But more recently, with the homelessness crisis really exploding, there’s been a lot of people who’ve moved onto boats simply because they can’t afford to live anywhere else.<\/p>\n

“And now what we’ve got is MSQ, backed by council, forcing these people off.”<\/p>\n

‘A lot of homeless in rich little town’<\/p>\n

Noosa River resident Bradley McMahon has lived in the area on and off for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

He said the changes also failed to consider that many of the boats were not equipped to move to other waters.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Bradley McMahon and his dog head back to their houseboat home on the Noosa River.\u00a0 (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)<\/p>\n

“They’re only built for rivers, lakes and estuaries,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They seem to forget that we have at the entrance to the river one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the country.<\/p>\n

“So, if they force people to then crane their vessels [out], that’s going to force them into financial hardship.<\/p>\n

“This is affecting people’s lives. There’s already a lot of homeless people in this rich little town.”<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

Bradley McMahon, Tya Gilleard, Sally Hayes and Rachel Hill are unhappy about the rule change. (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)<\/p>\n

Ms Hayes said being forced off the river would also cost some residents their jobs.<\/p>\n

Safer, more accessible river<\/p>\n

The MSQ said the goal of the changes was “to make the river safer and more accessible for all waterway users”.<\/p>\n

The changes apply to the river and connecting waterways, creeks, surrounding lakes and the Noosa Everglades.<\/p>\n

“Anyone experiencing genuine hardship should contact Maritime Safety Queensland,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“These changes are the result of extensive community consultation taking place since 2021.”\"Maritime<\/p>\n

Maritime Safety Queensland patrols the Noosa River ahead of the new houseboat rules coming into force. (Supplied: Rachel Hills)<\/p>\n

Derelict boats an ‘eyesore’<\/p>\n

The changes follow complaints from a number of Noosa riverfront property owners who have long argued the boats are an eyesore, and at times left abandoned and derelict.<\/p>\n

Rachel Hill said she took out a loan to purchase her houseboat and planned to live in it from this year.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Rachel Hill says the rule change has upended her housing plans. (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)<\/p>\n

But before ever getting to enjoy her live-aboard life, she was labelled a “freeloading scumbag” by a man who told her residents had “paid millions for our view”.<\/p>\n

“I just replied and kindly said, ‘I’m not a freeloading scumbag, I have a loan to pay off, I work full-time, I pay rent, I work in aged care,'” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m sure the bloody houseboats were on the river when you bought your million-dollar views.”<\/p>\n

Ms Hayes said the anchoring changes still would not solve the “eyesore” problem, with many of the worst boats able to remain because they were moored.<\/p>\n

Many of the residents being forced out have been on mooring waitlists for years.<\/p>\n

\"Houseboat<\/p>\n

This houseboat is allowed to remain on the Noosa River because it is moored. (ABC News: Tara Cassidy)<\/p>\n

“The boats that are being used, and actually housing people and being looked after, are being pushed off the river,” she said.<\/p>\n

“A lot of the colour, the fabric of Noosa is going to be gone, the people who make up this beautiful, vibrant community.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A David and Goliath battle is playing out on the multi-million-dollar shores of the Noosa River, where dozens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,83729,224713,91609,44,11632,142653,14796],"class_list":["post-439672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-everglades","tag-houseboats","tag-maritime-safety-queensland","tag-news","tag-noosa","tag-noosa-heads","tag-noosa-river"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}