LEHIA President’s Report 2024-25
Looking back through LEHIA records, even though meetings had previously commenced, LEHIA was formally constituted in September 2013. Since then, we have had 12 years of incredible change and growth of our houseboat industry here at Lake Eildon. The industry has transformed in many ways from a disparate group of businesses without direction or cohesion providing a basic to reasonable caravaning type experience on the water to today a professional industry that proudly produces world class vessels that are amongst them most environmentally friendly in the world whilst providing many rewarding jobs and careers. Further proudly, to many out there, we are a respected Corporate Citizen with a Community License for houseboating and recreation to continue on a very special waterway in Lake Eildon.
Reflecting on how important this Community License is, we nearly lost the right for houseboating to be on Lake Eildon in the very early 2000’s. The long-term lease held by Eildon Boat Club was one of the important things that saved us then. You can look at Noosa Heads and houseboats have been removed.
At Lake Eildon our industry produces high quality houseboats, and we compare more than favourably with houseboats on any other waterway in Australia and most places in the world. We have something special here. This has only come about because of you, the members of this fabulous industry as you continue to seek and strive to improve the outcomes for your clients.
We have a fantastic Culture of Collaborative Competition.
This is very much seen when I bring politicians and bureaucrats through the factories and onto your latest creations. They sense it, they see it, they are then happy to get onboard with us.
By being Members of your Association LEHIA it makes a statement about the values, principles and ethics of your business. It is reflected by LEHIA.
Lake Eildon maybe a large Lake, however, in many ways it is not large by the number and scope of the businesses involved. If a visitor or clients interact with any business on or surrounding Lake Eildon and they have a bad experience it reflects on all of us. Why would you get a houseboat? Why would you go to Lake Eildon? They are not nice people up there; there are far better places to go to where they treat you nicely.
I experienced this recently on Hamilton Island where all staff, no matter which business, all go through an Induction/Training program. Their primary role is to make sure you have a happy wonderful and memorable experience, and you will want to come again.
The collaborative inclusive competitive culture we have is so important.
Over the last decade times have been good for the houseboat industry, especially with the larger houseboats being permitted. A little reminder, this only eventuated due to the advocacy of LEHIA. However, this year activity has not been as vibrant. Some of this was due to the uncertainty caused by the Federal Election and the cost of living pressures with relatively high interest rates. With this in mind, the focus of LEHIA has altered slightly to look at promotional cost-effective opportunities for the industry and the Lake. When activity slows promotion and marketing are more important.
One of the initiatives has been Member Services which includes “Member of the Week”. From feedback this is not only providing great exposure for members but also recognition of the Houseboat Industry. These posts are used to update the members information and contact details on the revamped LEHIA website as well as being shared on the go to site for Lake Eildon, lakeeildon.com Business Directory. Members receive this as part of membership; other businesses have to pay.
Thanks to input from Tim Ewert at Inferno Marine, LEHIA supported the Eildon Easter Twilight Market with the Inaugural Boat Show & Shine. Around 5,000 people attended. After a recent debriefing a recommendation will be made to the LEHIA Executive to participate in the four Eildon Events Twilights Markets this coming season where LEHIA members can participate and have their information displayed and distributed.
The Eildon Pondage Lakes are a magnificent and beautiful setting. The bigger picture is how can we work with Eildon Events and grow their events to promote and celebrate Eildon as the centre for Inland Recreational Boating in Victoria with the Eildon Pondage Lakes becoming recognized as Australia’s Premier Recreational Water Sports Events Venue.
This concept will invite a different Recreational Boating Discipline to make one of the four days their weekend. Participate with the Eildon Twilight Market on the Saturday with demonstration events on the Pondage Lakes and then their competition on the Sunday.
This concept is not about opening up the Pondage Lakes for uncontrolled recreational use, but for events with event management and safety plans which take into account the requirements of GMW and AGL.
With assistance from our friends at BIA Vic, I can envisage four mini boat shows attracting around 10,000 people to each event with houseboats becoming part of it and being displayed.
This leads into mentioning the BIA Vic. The BIA Vic has been an incredible support for LEHIA and recreation at Lake Eildon. They brought Minister Dimopoulos to Lake Eildon around 12 months ago and presented to him the magnificent transformational opportunity that is embodied in the Activating Lake Eildon Master Plan. The BIA Vic has continued the advocacy to the Minister which has led to the Minister requesting them to put in place a process with the stakeholders which will provide him with dot points to make Activating Lake Eildon happen. After a number of Zoom meetings with very senior people from the Eildon Stakeholders a presentation has been delivered to the Minister. We await the Minister’s response.
This extremely important position would not have been achieved without the brilliant expertise, knowledge and experience of BIA Vic. My thanks and gratitude to President, Scott O’Hare, Director, Daved Lambert and CEO Steve Walker; you are an incredible team.
Due to their incredible work and persistence, I believe we are on the cusp of something great for Eildon, Murrindindi, Mansfield, Victoria and Australia. When the go button is pressed, I believe the development for the next decade will rival the construction years of the 1950’s. I am aware of potential multi-million-dollar investments ready to go, when the door is opened.
The Lake Eildon Master Plan indicates that Recreation/Tourism in the Lake Eildon Region is currently worth $486 million annually employing 2,555 people and is grossly underperforming. These changes can treble if not more these numbers with the potential for Recreation/Tourism at the Lake Eildon Region becoming a $2 billion industry.
Houseboats will be part of this as the recommendations to the Minister request the release of 10 new houseboat licenses per year for the next 10 years. Funds raised from the sale of Houseboat Licenses will help fund infrastructure required for houseboats, without the need to increase annual fees, and the promotion of Recreation Boating/Houseboating without the need to apply for Grants from the State Government or the Shires.
The major hurdle to releasing new houseboat licenses is the need to find a satisfactory solution for the treatment Grey Water discharges. I would like to thank Aiden Gale and John Gysberts for their intellectual property, dedication and persistence with this. Aiden in particular has used his staff on numerous occasions in servicing the trial system on Paul Williams houseboat “Imagine”. Aiden pays his staff for this time and has never requested compensation. Thank you, Aiden, it is noticed and greatly appreciated. Also, a big thank you to Paul Williams for making his houseboat available.
GMW as well as DEECA have been partners in this process, and we appreciate GMW recently paying for new filters. The system underwent independent testing in July, and we are waiting on these results.
Another of our great partners has been the Murrindindi Shire Council. Over the decades of attending Regional meetings, many times I have felt like being a lone voice for the Lake Eildon Region, not any more as Livia Bonazzi the CEO and Adrew Paxton a Director of MSC are passionate, strong and informed voices for Lake Eildon and our Industry. I know the Mayor Damien Gallagher is also very vocal in advocating for our area and the industry.
Attracting and finding appropriate housing for employees is an important issue for many of our members. MSC has heard this and has been successful with funds for Key Worker Housing in Eildon. LEHIA supported the application and at a recent decision at Murrindindi Council. We look forward to this project being rolled out.
LEHIA had discussions with MSC regarding promotion of Lake Eildon. This led to MSC having discussions with Tourism North East which resulted in Lake Eildon being include in posts put out on the TNE data base. Further, TNE will be having a stand at the Melbourne Boat Show which will highlight the High Country and the High Country Water.
Cr. Carr, could you please convey our gratitude to the staff at MSC.
During the year, LEHIA has assisted in hosting many important groups and bureaucrats. Late last year we welcomed the new Regional Director for the Hume Region of Regional Development Victoria. Although he knew Lake Eildon, but not in depth to what was happening at this end of the Lake. This led to the Regional Development Australia Committee holding a meeting at Eildon Boat Club and LEHIA providing a quick luncheon cruise on the Lake. They did ask a number of questions regarding the EBC Grant Application. This trip provided great informed background to them.
LEHIA also assisted with the visit of the new CEO of Regional Development Victoria and the Chairperson of the Regional Development Australia Hume Region Committee. Having these people visit doesn’t guarantee success but it helps enormously having informed people at the table where decisions are made.
LEHIA enjoys a good positive relationship with the Victorian Fisheries Authority. In particular, strongly supporting their efforts to control Carp and the release of the Carp Virus to enable this to happen. Carp are a major cause of Blue Green Algae outbreaks. Those of us that know Lake Eildon may manage around BGA outbreaks, however, when GMW correctly issue BGA Alerts it impacts on visitation to Eildon, especially in our busier times. This will also impact on people thinking of purchasing a houseboat. Bringing Carp numbers under control is important for many reasons including water quality, environmental issues, public health and economic impact.
It is a great pleasure to have as a guest this evening, Chris Padovani from the other arm of the VFA, Better Boating Victoria. I am looking forward to Chris’ presentation.
Tonight, one of our guests is the recently appointed General Manager of Water Storage Services at GMW, Jonathan McKeown. Jon has brought with him Matt Hodge and Shelly Forsman. Welcome and thank you for coming.
Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jon for over 2 hours and going through recreation, tourism and the houseboat industry understandings and issues from my perspective at Lake Eildon. We had an excellent meeting.
Personally, I am very enthused with the recent GMW Corporate Plan which talks about Achieving Together; Water for a Thriving Northern Victoria; Working Together to deliver sustainable efficient and adaptive water services. Importantly the GMW Values of Excellence; Honesty; Accountability; Courage; Caring.
Further there is a BOX for Recreation; we are no longer Non-Core Business.
We fully understand that GMW has an enormous responsibility in harvesting, storing and delivering water to their clients which sustains one of the world’s cleanest and efficient major Food Bowls which supports many jobs in our rural communities.
From our perspective the communities of Northern Victoria include the communities of the Lake Eildon Region which depend on access to the waters of Lake Eildon for their thriving future. All we want is appropriate access to the top 6 feet of the water no matter at what level the Lake is at.
Now that there is a BOX called Recreation as part of the GMW Corporate Strategy, we very much would like to work together to see how this recognition manifests itself. LEHIA members love this beautiful magical place and have invested their futures in this place. We look forward to working respectfully together.
One important item to mention is attracting young people to have a career in the Houseboat Industry. Here again our great supporters the BIA Vic are helping. At the BIA Vic AGM in April, I had a conversation with Dan Brown, Manager of Education & Industry Skills about an Immersion Day. Dan contacted me this week and he has organized with CRLLEN and Alexandra Secondary College an Immersion Day for Thursday 6th November. This is great news, at the right time of the year, as students are thinking of next year. We look forward to welcoming the students and showing them, they can have a great career in being part of building World Class Houseboats.
With the Regional Development Australia Committee I sit on, we recently toured Helico, a local business that services Helicopters from all over Australia. They employ 8 apprentices. One of these apprentices conducted our tour. He was a most impressive young man. I quizzed him as to why a job here, why has he not left the district like so many other young people. His answer was very important; he loves the area and the environment; I asked for more detail: on weekends he loves four wheel driving and camping in the bush and going fishing and hunting. This to me gives an indication of the type of young person to try and attract, what motivates them and where to concentrate our efforts to attract them.
A lot of work has been going into the weekly LEHIA Member of the Week; a big thank you to our admin support person, Teena. Also, a thank you to Teena for all the other work she undertakes for LEHIA; it is greatly appreciated.
A thank you to the LEHIA Executive of Darren, Paul and Aiden for your council, support and valuable input over the last 12 months; it is greatly appreciated. We normally have a couple more people on the Executive and sometimes it is difficult to find people willing to put up their hands; this year it is exciting that we have another couple of people willing to be part of the Executive. In encouraging people to put up their hands, I am mindful to try to ensure all sectors of our industry are represented.
More than enough from me as I am looking forward to the presentations from our guests, Chris from Better Boating Victoria and Steve from the BIA Vic.
In finishing up this President’s report there are three points to leave you with: –
(i) When we respect that we are in competition with each other and then work together we all win; Collaborative Competition.
(ii) Our journey over the last few years, especially with the remaking of the Lake Eildon Houseboat Regulations, demonstrates as an Industry we are a good responsible Corporate Citizen. This is most important in retaining the Social License for Houseboating.
(iii) As an Industry we should be very proud as we build World Class Houseboats that are amongst the most Environmentally Friendly Houseboats in the World whilst providing many rewarding Jobs in this Rural Area.
Love Lake Eildon
Mike Dalmau
President
LEHIA
18-09-2025