By Luke Voogt
The State Government has accused Opposition Leader Matthew Guy of scare-campaigning following his threats to sack a coastal management board.
Mr Guy vowed, if elected in 2018, to sack Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) over its plans to take over Anglesea Beachfront Family Caravan Park.
But a spokesperson for Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio labelled Mr Guy a hypocrite.
“It’s baffling that Matthew Guy is now running a scare campaign against the very tender process the Liberals put in place.”
GORRC put the lease for the caravan park up for competitive tender in December 2014 due to its financial value.
The Morris family bidded to extend their lease of the caravan park from the State Government, which they had managed since 1996.
But GORRC knocked back the tender and will take over management on behalf the government when the family’s lease runs out on 1 December, 2017.
Mr Guy described the committee’s plans to take over the caravan park as ludicrous.
“Does anyone honestly think they’ll run that business better than a family that has done it for 20 years?” he asked.
“They’ll just run that business into the ground and business again will be left to clean up damage that a government entity has caused.”
Mr Guy visited the caravan park on Monday, where he made the vow and committed to re-opening the tender process.
He said GORRC had treated the Morris family “like rubbish and deceived them for a long period of time.”
“The committee can’t be a tender if it is the decision-maker. The State Government clearly doesn’t see a problem with that.”
GORCC chief executive officer Richard Davies said the committee had acted “transparently“ to “protect public land and ensure it benefits all Victorians”.
“Ninety-five per cent of campsites are booked for the 2017-18 … and a substantial number of forward bookings. Over $1million of bookings have already been processed.“
The State Government recently commissioned a review which found the tender met regulatory guidelines.
