The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has rejected a key plank of the 2026 state election platform released by recreational fishing peak body VRFish, warning that a proposal to open “unused road reserves” for public access to waterways would funnel recreational traffic straight through working farms and repeat the mistakes of the state government’s Crown frontage camping changes.
VRFish’s “roads to rivers” proposal seeks government funding to “activate” unused road reserves to improve public access to rivers. The VFF says the plan ignores the reality that many of these reserves are anything but unused. They run through the heart of family farms, where they have been fenced, grazed, cropped and cared for by landholders for generations under long term lease arrangements.
VFF President Ryan Milgate said activating these corridors would create serious biosecurity, safety and management risks, with no clear benefit that could not be delivered through established public access points.
“Recreational fishing is a great Victorian pastime, and farmers are happy to share the bush, but ‘roads to rivers’ is the wrong way to go about it. Many of these so-called unused roads are not unused at all. They run through the middle of working farms that families live on and care for, and turning them into public thoroughfares would create real problems.”
“This is a serious biosecurity risk. Every vehicle, boot and dog that travels down a farm track can carry weeds, soil and disease onto a property. At a time when farmers are on high alert for emergency animal and plant diseases, the last thing we need is taxpayer money spent opening up uncontrolled access across farmland. Add open gates, wandering stock, fire risk and the safety of the families who live and work on these properties, and you can see why farmers are alarmed.”
“We have seen this before. The Crown frontage camping decision was announced as an election promise with almost no consultation, and it caused years of conflict, biosecurity worry and mistrust in the bush,” Mr Milgate said.
The VFF is calling on all parties and candidates to rule out activating unused road reserves that cut through farmland, and to consult directly with the VFF, affected landholders and licence holders before considering any change in access. It says genuine access improvements should be delivered through established entry points that do not send the public across private and licensed land, past homes, sheds, stockyards and machinery.
“Farmers are not the enemy of fishers, but you cannot improve access by creating a new set of problems for the people who live and work on the land. Our message to every candidate is simple. Talk to us first,” Mr Milgate said.