With work finally progressing on the Thurra River Bridge, Gippsland East Nationals’ MP, Tim Bull, is seeking confirmation both it and the adjacent Thurra River campground will be open for the summer school holidays.

“It is an absolute disgrace that this structure has taken five years to rebuild and the incompetence that has been shown is staggering, after the then Parks Victoria CEO, said four years ago it was a ‘project of high importance.’

“On a follow up question, he said the reason it was a priority was to restore access to ‘the island’. Trouble is there is no island, it is a bridge over a river to a campground, so in reality it was not a project of high importance at all as they did not know the first thing about it.

“Those familiar with the area know this bridge provides access to the Thurra River campground, the second biggest in the area and important to the economy of the Cann River community, as this is where campers purchase their bait, fuel and supplies.

“For five years this community, which was also heavily bushfire impacted, has not had the benefit of this income for any of the yearly school holiday periods.

“The campground itself still has vehicles and debris from the fire strewn across the landscape as there has been no access to retrieve these items since the fire. This will also need to be cleared up and the basic camp area infrastructure reinstated.

“The bridge also provides access to the iconic Point Hicks Lighthouse, which was the first part of the Australian mainland sighted by Captain Cook, so is an important part of our colonial history,” said Mr Bull.

Caption: Work on the Thurra River Bridge is progressing and Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull wants confirmation both it, and the Thurra River campground will be open this year.

Monday, 14 July 2025