The Allan Labor Government wasted $9 million through a Treasurer’s Advance - typically utilised in emergencies - to fund the flawed free camping trial it was told would not work and ultimately scrapped.

Nationals’ Gippsland East MP, Tim Bull said that this was an abuse of the Treasurer’s advance authority which was called upon to support the region when the bushfires hit in 2019/20.

“Using a Treasurer’s Advance for this scheme was completely unjustified,” said Mr Bull.

“These advances should only be for real emergencies, not for a poorly planned program that failed from day one. Is it any wonder the State is heading to a debt of $190 billion and interest repayments of $28 million per day.

The free camping initiative ran from December 2024 to June 2025, promising free access to 131 Parks Victoria campgrounds. Instead, it created a major “ghost camping” problem, where multiple campsites were booked out, with the intent to make space on either side of the genuine booking, which locking out campers in premium sites over Christmas and Easter.

“This free camping trial punished small businesses already doing it tough and wasted millions of dollars of Victorian taxpayers’ money,” Mr Bull said.

“It’s yet another example of the Allan Government’s notorious financial mismanagement and incompetence. It is time for a fresh start.”

The trial has now been scrapped, leaving taxpayers to foot the $9 million bill on the Treasurer’s credit card for a poorly thought out experiment.

“Victorians deserve their money to be spent wisely, with accountability. This clearly was neither,” Mr Bull said.

Caption: The Nationals’ State Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, visited ‘booked’ campsites last summer during the failed free camping trial, which was plagued by ghost camping across Parks Victoria sites.

Monday, 10 November 2025