Rarely has a bureaucratic backflip posed such a clear threat to the jewel in Noosa’s crown, our magnificent river system.
Despite earlier assurances, Maritime Safety Queensland has buckled to now allow any vessel to permanently anchor anywhere in the upper sections of the Noosa River and Lakes system. This will inevitably destroy the majestic wilderness and semi-wilderness environmental, aesthetic and recreational values that generations of Noosa residents have fought to protect.
Unless the new LNP government can be persuaded to step in and over-rule MSQ, it will soon be too late to stop the effects of this bureaucratic vandalism.
There are currently around 50 private houseboats on the Noosa River – many of them live-aboards – that MSQ is now encouraging to relocate further upriver.
• Some will move up to the tranquil and picturesque Middle Noosa River between Lake Cooroibah and Lake Cootharaba.
• Some will move to hog the beaches and shorelines of the Boreen Point village on Lake Cootharaba.
• Some will move even further up-river into the iconic Noosa Everglades and the Upper Noosa River.
The Noosa community’s most loved and iconic environmental, aesthetic and recreational jewel faces catastrophic damage unless MSQ is brought to heel by the new LNP Government insisting that MSQ reverses its Noosa River backflip and instead reinstates its previous policy of a 28 day per year anchoring restriction on all vessels anywhere in the Noosa River and Lakes system.
Let’s look a little more closely at the implications of MSQ’s 9 May 2025 backflip to allow vessels to anchor where they want for as long as they want in the upper sections of the Noosa River and Lakes system.
The relatively sheltered waters and shorelines of the Middle Noosa River will be irresistible to some. With almost the entire shoreline on both sides consisting of impenetrable mangrove forests and swamps, the houseboats and liveaboards that settle along the Middle Noosa River section will congregate around Johns Landing with its connecting road to the retail and commercial centres of coastal Noosa. Initially perhaps a handful of vessels, some of them liveaboard houseboats, some of them perhaps floating STAs, will form a semi-permanent floating hamlet at Johns Landing.
The public beaches and parkland shorelines of Boreen Point will prove to be irresistible to many of the relocating houseboats and other craft. The attractions are obvious. Easy road access to the wider world, shoreline car parking, a boat ramp, public amenities, and a very convivial village pub. Don’t be surprised if the houseboats owned and run by shadowy STA syndicates similar to those that recently operated in Woods Bay at the foot of Hastings Street reappear along the beaches and shorelines of Boreen Point.
And it seems inevitable that following MSQ’s backflip the iconic waters of the Noosa Everglades and Upper Noosa River will be visually desecrated by anchored houseboats and live-aboards, and floating STAs.
As word spreads about the houseboat, liveaboard and STA opportunities opening up at Johns Landing, Boreen Point and the Noosa Everglades, it is all but inevitable that speculators and entrepreneurs as well as those seeking a cheap floating home will truck and crane more houseboats into the Noosa River at Tewantin and Boreen Point.
This is the moment Noosa needs the new LNP state government to intervene and instruct MSQ to reverse its backflip and return to its previous policy of imposing a 28 day per year anchoring limit on all vessels in the Noosa River and Lakes system. Soon it will be too late to reverse this bureaucratic vandalism.
MSQ’s 9 April 2025 backflip is a betrayal of years of good-faith negotiations and agreements between MSQ, Noosa Council, Noosa River stakeholders, and the wider public that culminated in the promised 28 days per year anchoring limit anywhere in the river and lakes system.
And the MSQ backflip has occurred without any community consultation whatsoever.
The result will be little more than a shifting of the current anchoring mess between Tewantin and the River mouth to further up the river to the Middle Noosa River, the beaches and shorelines of the village of Boreen Point, and the Noosa Everglades and Upper Noosa River.
Readers will not be surprised to learn that MSQ’s betrayal follows on from behind the scenes and below the radar lobbying by a number of vested interests:
- The Noosa Boating and Fishing Alliance is seeking alienation of significant areas of public foreshore lands and riverbank for new or expanded boat ramps and boat trailer storage areas at Noosaville, Tewantin, Johns Landing, Boreen Point and on the Upper Noosa River.
- Those wanting to be able to anchor a houseboat where they want for as long as they want.
- Those seeking to set up floating STA businesses.
- Those wanting live-aboard permits – ranging from the vulnerable and/or homeless to market opportunists.
- The politically well-connected who have boasted for years that they and/or their boats are so special that they need not join MSQ’s buoy mooring waiting list to wait their turn.
Here’s what we can do right now
Clearly MSQ has lost its way.
It needs to be rescued by its new Minister and political boss, the Honourable Brent Mickelberg MP, Minister for Transport and Main Roads.
And to help this to happen, every one of us concerned about our beautiful Noosa River can request the Minister to instruct MSQ to stick with its public undertakings prior to 9 April 2019 to introduce a 28 day per year vessel anchoring limit over all the Noosa River and Lakes system.
The Minister’s email address is: buderim@parliament.qld.gov.au .
The email to the Minister could read something like this:
Dear Minister Mickelberg, I am writing to you to respectfully ask that you instruct Maritime Safety Queensland to implement a policy this year imposing a 28 day per year anchoring restriction on all vessels anywhere within the Noosa River and Lakes system. Thank you, (your name, address, and date).
This Post Has 9 Comments
Hi everyone. My name is Neville. I Have lived (illegally) on the Noosa river for about 3 years. I support the original Noosa Plan, despite it being too ambitious. For the past 18 months I have been in regular contact with MTS officers on a first name basis. The Noosa Matters article lacks the kind of insight my relationship with MTS (hopefully) might bring to the conversation. The plan was always far too ambitious and beyond the local MTS abilities. (Considering available staff and resources) hence we have the unfortunate changes allowing boats to anchor further up the river. MTS hopes the change of plan will make it easier to eventually bring the plan to fruition. However, unless there is a sunset clause regarding boats being able to anchor further up the river it just kicking the can further down the road. The Woods Bay Area has been mostly cleared of illegal boats, some have now moved to Tewantin. They will now be told to move up the river. They will not want to, but if they don’t move they will have to exit the river altogether. Yes, a few might anchor near John’s landing. Council will keep the gate locked however making it inconvenient. Boreen Point is a shallow, windy option. The upper Noosa river, being mostly National park, will only allow a boat to anchor overnight if the owner has a permit and camps at a registered camp site. The upper Noosa river access is far too shallow for most boats, as is access to Boreen Point across the lake. I hope this information helps. Harshly criticising MTS will not. Supporting the local guys and appreciating the difficult job they have, whilst making constructive suggestions will. It’s Neville. Happy to help. 0427557898.
We sent this to Minister Mickelberg:
Dear Minister Mickelberg
We are writing to you as residents of the small hamlet of Boreen Point on the shore of Lake Cootharaba. Our town sits between the Middle and Upper Noosa river systems and leads to one of the two regions in the world called Everglades, the other being in Florida.
It is extraordinarily beautiful country and deserves our protection. We are custodians like many before us and we really want to pass it along to future generations in all its glory.
The river system was protected by a law that limited boats from staying anywhere on the Noosa River for longer than 28 days in any year. Maritime Services Queensland, administrator of these restrictions, has now removed them altogether.
Boats can now be permanently moored in every reach of this pristine river system. It’s a delicate ecosystem and it won’t last long with such additional pressures.
Conservation of this environment is your responsibility. Please instruct MSQ to immediately overturn their recent decisions about the Noosa river system, made without community consultation and evidently without due regard for this place.
Kind regards
Margaret Moon and Roelant Tops
Dear Minister Mickelberg,
I am writing to you to respectfully ask that you instruct Maritime Safety Queensland to implement a policy this year imposing a 28 day per year anchoring restriction on all vessels anywhere within the Noosa River and Lakes system.
This would be a disgrace for our beautiful river and nature. What we have here in Noosa Shire is so special how come the minority and greed of people can ruin our little world. We all know the world in general is going down hill with the greed of humanity. Let’s safe what we can and look after our little paradise.
Thank you,
Esther Herren-Cummins
Tewantin QLD
My email to the minister:
Dear Minister Mickelberg,
I am writing to you not only as a concerned Queenslander, but as someone with a deep, lifelong connection to the Noosa River and Lakes system—particularly the pristine upper reaches beyond Boreen Point and the Everglades.
Growing up, my family spent countless holidays at our small house in Boreen Point. Some of my most treasured memories come from those times—kayaking up the pristine, mirror-like waters of the upper Noosa River, walking along untouched sandy banks, and waking to the sounds of birdsong in one of the most peaceful, unspoilt wilderness areas in the state.
Now, as a parent, I’ve been fortunate enough to begin sharing this special place with my children, and I hope one day to do the same with my grandchildren. But that hope now feels under threat.
I was deeply alarmed to learn of Maritime Safety Queensland’s recent policy reversal, which now allows permanent anchoring throughout the Noosa River and Lakes system. This decision will have a devastating impact on the environmental, recreational, and aesthetic values that have made this region so iconic and beloved.
The idea that houseboats and live-aboard vessels may soon cluster along the banks of the upper Noosa River and Everglades—areas that have long been treasured for their near-wilderness quality—is heartbreaking. It’s not just a policy change; it’s a loss of heritage, serenity, and the delicate balance between nature and recreation that makes Noosa unique.
I respectfully urge you, as Minister, to instruct MSQ to uphold its previous commitment to a 28-day per year anchoring limit for all vessels within the Noosa River and Lakes system. This would strike a far more sustainable balance—allowing people to enjoy the river without sacrificing its soul.
Please help protect this remarkable place, not just for those of us who remember what it was, but for all those who deserve the chance to experience it in the future.
Thank you for your time and leadership on this matter.
Kind regards,
Andrew Hemming
email sent. This is another very distressing situation, as is Tourism Noosa confronting Noosa Residents.
My email to Minister Mickelberg :-
Excellent summary Michael, thanks and I’ll write to Mickelberg straightaway.
Dear Minister Mickelberg,
I am writing to you to respectfully ask that you instruct Maritime Safety Queensland to implement a policy this year imposing a 28 day per year anchoring restriction on all vessels anywhere within the Noosa River and Lakes system.
Thank you
Richard S.Grocott
New Zealand 1011
PS. I am a New Zealander who owns 3 Units on Edgar Bennett Avenue, 1 for more than 38 years and I purchased there because there is no place like Noosa Heads anywhere in the world !
Don’t go and spoil the place now !!
Email sent. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I am continually dismayed by the greed and total lack of concern for our beautiful environment.