Learning from the Nomads

When Federal MP Joanna Gash was given the shadow portfolio for Roads Tourism and asked to write a policy draft for the Federal Opposition, she decided the 'hands-on' approach was the way to go. So, despite never having been on a caravan holiday in her entire life, let alone ever towing one, she hit the road with a Jayco pop top with the aim of, in her words, ‘getting out there and listening’.

Although her time was limited to a couple of weeks, Joanna chose a route through three states that would enable her to make intra state comparisons.

She set off from Nowra, through western NSW, into South Australia down and around Adelaide and on into Victoria. From Portland, Victoria, she travelled along the coast road for a while and then up in to Ballarat, Bendigo, across to Yea and the Dandenongs, then along the Princes Highway through Sale and then Eden and back home again. Joanna reckons the trip gave her a valuable insight into the issues affecting grey nomads and the communities we visit.

“This trip saved me about three months worth of dry reading,” she says.

Here’s what she thought about her adventure:

“The roads were very sparse in terms of road travellers and in many cases was put down to the exorbitant cost of petrol. The greatest downturn was reported in NSW destinations although there were some exceptions.

In the main, the further the location from a metropolitan area, the worse the experience reported. We found that in Victoria for instance, destinations within say two hours travel of Melbourne were doing OK. In fact in some places, their figures were actually up.

This suggests to me that a displacement factor was at play. That is, long trips were being substituted for with shorter, day trips. We came across some hardy travellers who were determined to ‘keep on 'vanning’ but even they were making economies which were impacting on local regional and rural townships.
In Hay for instance, I spoke to waitress in a café who told me that she and her mates had their hours cut to manage the downturn. She said that a hotel in Hay who would usually cook 60 or 70 meals each evening was now only cooking less than half of that and then not on all nights.

The effect of the drought and the dramatic downturn in the economy was very definitely impacting across the board. My concern is with the welfare of small country businesses who are not able to weather the storm and it was sad to see so many closed shops. The air of destitution in some towns was quite palpable.

The van was pulled by my Tarago and performed the task without a beat. We expected fuel consumption to be affected and it was. Especially when, for most of the trip, we faced a lot of head wind. That and the addition of hills meant that my fuel consumption almost doubled.

Most of the van parks we stayed at were very pleasant and each had its own unique qualities. We tested a cabin one night and after the rigors of sleeping in a cold van, we found the comfort just too much and we couldn't sleep.

There are a number of national initiatives I would like to explore, including national standardisation of signage, national accreditation and a change in the philosophy of marketing tours. Speaking as an ex regional tourism manager before I became a politician, there is a lot of potential for improvement.
There is no doubt that those who hit the highways and by-ways with a van in tow are a special breed of person. There are a lot of towns throughout regional Australia who are significantly dependent on their interest.

We need to ensure that the pleasure and business that caravanning brings is not jeopardised. Things are a-changing and the government needs to not only keep abreast of these changes but stay a jump ahead.
To those contemplating taking the jump, all I have to say is - Go For It and Go See Australia!”

Is there anything you would like to let Joanna know as she prepares her policy draft to be released later this year? Email us here and we'll pass your comments on to her.