PETER VAN ONSELEN: Anthony Albanese weighs into the most bitter debate in Australia imaginable – beach cabanas – with a VERY divisive view
Anthony Albanese has clearly articulated what any owner of an oceanfront mansion overlooking a beautiful white sand beach would want to express.
How to dare beach-going Australians build temporary cabanas to protect themselves from the harsh summer sun.
“That is unacceptable… to think that you can reserve a spot that is only intended for you,” the Prime Minister said in the morning program Today.
Having recently purchased a $4.3 million waterfront vacation home, Albo knows it’s hard work is the road to private ownership on the Australian coast.
The idea that anyone could obstruct such views with a pop-up tent is, in his eyes, at least, a travesty.
Forget the Cancer Council’s warnings about the importance of shade when enjoying our beaches on high UV days.
Anyone enjoying the sun should slip, slip and thrash – instead of taking their own spot in the shade.
Boat owners agree with the Prime Minister’s reflections. There’s really nothing worse than dropping anchor on a beautiful beach with plans to enjoy the view without sand between your toes, only to find that the sandy coastline is obstructed by the mass of beach huts.
Albo, the owner of a beachfront mansion, does NOT approve of the tent explosion on Australian beaches this summer
Cool Cabanas have taken over Australian beaches in recent years – and now they’ve been condemned by the Prime Minister
Owners of boats and coastal estates must unite to quell this growing trend of sun safety.
Albo is old enough to remember when some municipalities gave out shaded cabanas for the average citizen to use as part of their skin cancer awareness programs.
Those days are over and Albo now stands on the side of anyone who is offended by the shadow, whatever the reason for feeling that way.
Beach cabanas have been banned in other parts of the world, but Australian municipalities have not yet moved in that direction.
Perhaps the gentle nudge from a prime minister who wants to preserve his view of Copacabana Beach will help the city council take the lead.
Albo knew his comments this morning – responding from the heart and without notice to a genuine question, not the kind he’s presented with on Question Time – could stir up controversy.
“I didn’t see that question coming,” he said. “We await the response… No doubt there will be some disgust at my statement.”
On the plus side, it should help secure the support of blue-green independents representing the wealthy coastal areas of Sydney and Perth.
I’m sure the residents who overlook the beautiful beaches of Cottesloe, Manly and Palm Beach, like Albo, can’t stand the cabanas that the common folk are increasingly using.