There is a breakwater consisting of concrete blocks which runs to the east of Port Kembla Harbour. My intention this morning was to take some shots from the walkway of this area of "public" land, as I have done occasionally in the past.

It is perhaps fortunate that I arrived a little bit late and a little after sunrise. (Which also helped me to see the many and varied "No Parking", "No Access", "It is forbidden to" etc signs around the area). For there was a sign that I don't think was there on my last shoot; "For safety reasons, the breakwater will be closed from sunset to sunrise". Yeah, I'll betcha that there is a NSW Ports officer out there at the crack of dawn to make sure that fishermen, photographers, etc have access at that time.

Oh wait, no there isn't because there's another sign; "Breakwater is CLOSED until further notice! Trespassers WILL! BE! PROSECUTED! Check our website for status updates." Of course the website just says that the closure is for "safety" reasons after "storm damage" with no indication of what is being done to reopen the thing or when it will be finished by. (I'm trying to remember when we last had a storm that was capable of damaging a few thousand tonnes of concrete. No, nothing coming to mind in recent history.) My bet is that the answers are "not much" and "if or when we feel like it because opening the thing every day takes work" since you can bet that nobody is being held accountable over things like this. However one must not question it because the majik-word "Safety" has been invoked. Much like the other majik-words like "sekuritee" and "tewwowism", this is supposed to shut down debate and keep the public in a state of slight on edge fear to ensure that they still want to pay daddy to pwotekt them fwom bad fings.

Here is the sign that I want to see up there, right next to the open gate which is only closed in the event of severe storms.
-----------------------------
ATTENTION ALL STUPID BASTARDS (And Other Visitors)

This breakwater is a concrete construction which juts out into the sea. The sea is big, it is powerful, and it wants to kill you. Badly. Sometimes if it can't find a human victim, it will damage the breakwater out of spite. This means that:
(a) You need to be aware of what the sea is doing AT ALL TIMES and have an escape route planned; and
(b) You need to WATCH YOUR FOOTING and make sure that you don't fall into an ocean-created hole and break your frapping leg.

In other words, if you go out onto this breakwater you, and you alone, are responsible for keeping yourself alive and undamaged. If you are unlucky and get taken out by a rogue wave, on your head be it. If you are one of those idiots who thinks that it's cool to jump into the sea from a concrete block after a few too many Jim Beams, you don't get to sue the Government or anybody else for not sufficiently protecting you from your own gross stupidity.

For those who proceed with a sense of responsibility, enjoy your time on the breakwater. For the rest, please give our warm regards to Charles Darwin when you meet him.

---------------------------

The chasm between the way the world should work and does work grows ever greater. I'll bet those seagulls are going to end up getting infringement notices as well. Still, the contrast between the freedom of the air and the "freedom" of the land seems apparent.