‘Test migrants’ on surf
SURF lifesaving’s head honcho says migrants wanting to live in Australia should pass tests about swimming between the red and yellow flags to help save lives.
George Hill, the chief operating officer at Surf Life Saving Queensland, said a requirement upon entry to answer questions about the flags would force new citizens and residents to get up to speed on beach safety.
“(The flags) are truly Australian and a question should be there because it could save lives,” Mr Hill said. “We’ve got multicultural communities coming to Australia, and when they become a resident or a citizen you have those questions to answer about Australia to be approved.
“I’d leave the questions to the experts but certainly ‘what do those flags signify?’ could be a good idea.
“People may have to research it, study it, or google it and that can only help.”
Mr Hill’s comments come a day after leading coastal expert Dr Rob Brander said the swim-between-the-flags message had become ineffective.
Tourists interviewed by the Bulletin on Thursday joked about the message, saying swimming between the flags was too crowded and “not fun if you walk in the water and touch everybody”.
Others said they were decent swimmers and had no need to abide by the mantra.
International student Ravneet Singh, 22, drowned at Duranbah, just south of Point Danger, on Christmas Day.
New figures from SLSQ confirmed the ‘swim between the red and yellow flags’ message had not hit home for some.
So far, 600 of the 800 rescues performed by lifesavers and lifeguards across the state were performed outside of the flagged area. Of the rescues, 500 were due to rips.
“It is important, as Dr Brander says, to educate the community about rips, how to identify them,” Mr Hill said.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive officer Daniel Gschwind also suggested tourists could be given beach safety information when they applied for a visa.