Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has added his voice to the controversy about the use of portable cabanas on the beaches of the country. He says that the habit of setting up cabanas to stake out beach space does not conform to the nation’s spirit of equality and fairness.
While interviewing on Tuesday, Albanese noted that the use of portable shade structures to save a spot at the beach “isn’t on,” in that Australia’s beaches are all open to people. Unlike the case in most other countries, Australians do not have to pay for access and do not even have to reserve a spot.
The debate flared up after photos circulated showing rows of cabanas on the Mornington Peninsula’s beach in Victoria, where temperatures soared above 40°C (104°F) in parts of the country. Some beachgoers reportedly set up their cabanas, chairs, and towels early in the morning and returned later in the day, seemingly claiming prime spots.
One of the great things about Australia, unlike some parts of the world, [where] you go and you’ve got to pay to go to the beach, here, everyone owns the beach,” Albanese said. “Everyone. And it’s a place where every Australian is equal. And that’s a breach of that principle, really, to think that you can reserve a little spot as just yours.”
Anthony Marsh, mayor of the Mornington Peninsula shire, supports that beachgoers are allowed to use cabanas but is critical of cabana left to book spaces. “Reserving space on the beach and then going off and doing other stuff is not appropriate,” he said. He further mentioned that although at no local beaches was this issue prevalent, it is a grave concern at Safety Beach, where pictures were taken.
His advice to beachgoers was to be considerate of others: “If you’re going to use the beach, go for it, have a great time. But if you’re not going to use the beach, don’t take up space so other people can’t.”
The debate over access to beaches in Australia has already led to the rejection of the proposal in 2020 that part of Sydney’s Bondi Beach be made exclusively for the well-to-do after the local council rejected the bid. Public access to beaches “is a democratic and egalitarian principle that should never be compromised,” said the Inner West mayor while a petition opposing the plan saw a massive showing of hands.
According to Christian Barry, a moral philosopher at the Australian National University, the current debate reflects the Australians’ views on fair distribution of common resources, like the beach. “What people are objecting to is the idea that people are taking more than their fair share,” Barry said. That is a core value-not taking more than your fair share or holding yourself up for special treatment relative to others when it comes to a commonly held resource.
He admitted that cabanas do have advantages in the sense that they provide shade and allow families to spend more time at the beach, but become unpopular when they infringe upon other people’s use. “They become unpopular when the use of them starts to impinge on other people’s fair use of that resource.”
Barry added that, with no laws that specifically govern cabana use on beaches, people should have to “use a little common sense” and accept some sacrifice for not having conflict.
