History | 1993 | Victoria

In 1993 Surfrider Foundation Australia, in conjunction with Greenpeace, staged a series of rallies in Melbourne, Victoria.

Here is what happened...

In summer 1993 a bunch of surfers from the Surfrider Foundation staged a series of protest actions to stop oil tankers entering Westernport Bay.

Their actions were prompted by the actions of an international oil company. Shell announced plans to re-open their Crib Point Oil Transfer facility which sits just inside Westernport and would have resulted in large oil tankers cruising into Westernport Bay to unload millions of litres of Arabian crude oil.

The only problem was that Westernport isn't that deep and most of these oil tankers would have needed to enter Westernport during high tide otherwise they would have scraped along the ocean floor.

With Phillip Island being so close there was nothing stopping an oil spill covering thousands of penguins and hundreds of seals.

Many local surfers along with the Surfrider Foundation decided this idea was inappropriate and should be stopped.

In November and December 1993 a series of rallies and actions were held in Melbourne and at the Crib Point terminal where surfers, swimmers and concerned residents voiced their loud opposition to Shell regarding this proposal.

Two days before the Crib Point Rally, after 300 people had attended the rally on the steps of Parliament House, Shell called a halt to plans to upgrade Crib Point and since then all talk of oil tankers entering Westernport has stopped. This, needless to say, is great news for the environment.

The series of rallies and actions were significant in that they galvanised the surfing community and gave voice to many people who had concerns about not just oil tankers, but other environmental issues along our Australian coast.

It was the first time surfers marched up Bourke Street and stood on the steps of Parliament House with surfboards under their arms and fire in their bellies.

Ten years later surfers are still fighting to stop the pollution of our oceans and beaches.

by
John Foss (who was there along with Meagan McAlpine - current President of Surf Coast Branch and Damian Goss).