Nudism push: go mandatory

Alex de Vos
A lobby group has demanded authorities make nudism mandatory at Torquay’s Point Impossible beach.
Australian Nudist Association spokesman Werner Jacob said forcing all beachgoers to strip was the best way of weeding out perverts at Point Impossible.
Replacement of Point Impossible’s clothing-optional status with mandatory nudism would stop “a lot of the hassle” over addressing concerns about deviant behaviour at the beach, he said.
“It would be better if it was nude bathing-only,” Mr Jacob said.
“At the moment it (clothing-optional status) says you don’t have to take your clothes off and you can sit there and perv but if you had to take your clothes off then people would see you.
“I think it would stop a lot of the hassle – at the moment the law is very difficult to define.”
Mr Jacob said a mandatory nude bathing policy would also help boost tourism from nudists.
“Victoria’s losing out on nudist tourism, Torquay’s missing out,” he said.
Mr Jacob suggested a nude bus could ferry passengers to Point Impossible from Torquay accommodation centres to enhance the town’s nudism experience.
The association’s call for mandatory nudism followed the Independent revealing earlier this month plans to install hidden cameras at Point Impossible before October to flush out perverts.
The plan drew harsh criticism from one of Australia’s leading civil rights activists in the following week’s Independent. Liberty Victoria president Julian Burnside QC attacked the spy cameras as “unjustifiable and intrusive”.
Point Impossible came under fire in 2006 after residents complained about men using the dunes to meet for sex.
Residents believed that the men were using the beach’s clothing-optional status as a cover for sexual activity.