Some of you may have seen this message from Fred in the recent C&M newsletter. What do you think about this serious issue?

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Dear readers of C&M,
Your rights to free camping in Australia are not just under threat, they may soon be a thing of the past. You owe it to yourselves to be as informed as possible of the current changes and future decisions by Government bodies to force you into caravan parks.
At the moment, there is a movement to take away your rights. CNPs (or, Competitive Neutrality Principles) are designed to prevent unfair competition between Governments and privately owned businesses. In the case of the provision of overnight camping services for self-contained RVs, these services must do so on fair and equal terms with private operators, where it is in the public interest to do so. This means that governments must charge us to stay in free camps, which could see the closure of many around Australia.
C&M supports both free-camping and caravan parks for RVers. We support the right to choose and freedom of choice, not government restrictions designed to force RVers into caravan parks. We do not accept that one solution fits all and especially believe that government restrictions impact most heavily on and punish those who have limited resources and are the most vulnerable.
Let us know what you think about this serious issue by emailing [email protected] with your thoughts.

LeanneTomkins wrote:Some of you may have seen this message from Fred in the recent C&M newsletter. What do you think about this serious issue?

_____

Dear readers of C&M,
Your rights to free camping in Australia are not just under threat, they may soon be a thing of the past. You owe it to yourselves to be as informed as possible of the current changes and future decisions by Government bodies to force you into caravan parks.
At the moment, there is a movement to take away your rights. CNPs (or, Competitive Neutrality Principles) are designed to prevent unfair competition between Governments and privately owned businesses. In the case of the provision of overnight camping services for self-contained RVs, these services must do so on fair and equal terms with private operators, where it is in the public interest to do so. This means that governments must charge us to stay in free camps, which could see the closure of many around Australia.
C&M supports both free-camping and caravan parks for RVers. We support the right to choose and freedom of choice, not government restrictions designed to force RVers into caravan parks. We do not accept that one solution fits all and especially believe that government restrictions impact most heavily on and punish those who have limited resources and are the most vulnerable.
Let us know what you think about this serious issue by emailing [email protected] with your thoughts.

Part in bold- how will charging us to camp shut them down- would have thought the opposite.
Unless you are referring to “free camps” as free in terms of money, not free as in freedom.

we keep getting conflicting views from your publication as to which definition you subscribe to

Thanks Leanne,
I have made a reply to the email address as requested.

Leanne,
I have also sent in a reply.
glanyard

Well,we just stop on the side of the road,and anyone comes along to move us,,,We were too tired to continue travelling,,,put that in your pipe and smoke it,,,They would have a huge job enforcing it..

The issue is a beat up by the caravan parks association to force freecampers in to caravan parks in towns, BUT is also being used as a beat up by the opposition to the CP lobby, that most freecamps will close, NOT so, it will only affect the freecamps in areas close to towns, anything more than 40km from a caravan park cannot be affected as there is no competition.
If I choose to stay in a roadside rest area overnight, no one has the right to tell me to move on, if I feel I have travelled long enough for the day, I’m tired and I feel it would be dangerous for me and other road users if I were to continue, no police officer in his right mind would order me to move on.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for freecamping and I love to use them whenever possible, we have used many in towns where there was a CP, but only because we like the freedom of a freecamp and not the closeness of a CP, in robe for example there are a few freecamps around the place, IF you can get in, and there is also the Bushland cabins and caravan park, that is a place that offers the best of both worlds with power loos, showers etc and plenty of space for $22 a night with no minimum, we’ve been there and will go back again, over another place where we were so crammed in over one Easter, that our 15ft van had it’s tow attachment over the roadway, there was only just enough room to put our 7ft awning out and the car was parked with 2 wheels on the roadway, all for $40 a night and minimum 5 nights
Frank

We have sent our thoughts in also.

Regards
Dave n Jen