To be honest, it doesn’t take that much to get our surfing councillor, Tom Wegener, excited – a one-foot wave at Tea Tree will normally do it – but last week, driving home from the World Surfing Conservation Conference on the Gold Coast, he was truly frothing as he told me on his hands-free about this truly global four-day event.
I’d been a delegate at the conference which grandfathered this one, at Southern Cross Uni on the eve of the pandemic, way back in February 2020, alongside Mick Court representing the Noosa World Surfing Reserve, which was about to be dedicated the following week. The Global Wave Conference had been a pretty impressive gathering of surfing’s brains trust, including industry sustainability advocates and leaders of ocean-related environmental groups, but as soon as Tom started describing the WSCC 2026, I realized this was next level.
He said: “What blew me away about this conference was the fact that we had no idea of the enormity of it until we got there. You could scroll down the list of speakers and see that people were coming from around the world, but until you experienced the vibe of the place, the power of the points of view that were being articulated, you had no idea.
“For example, I knew that Peru had a significant delegation, but when you realised that it included the country’s Australian ambassador, its commissioner for trade and tourism, and surfing icons like 1965 world champion Felipe Pomar – now leading the ‘Surf to 100’ aged fitness movement – former top pro surfer Magoo de la Rosa and Carlos Ucanan ‘Huevito’ Arzola, the conduit to Peruvian surfing’s ancient roots through his masterful riding of the reed-constructed Caballito de Totora … when you realised that all of these people were here to carry a simple message, that surf culture would be the salvation of the Northern Peru coastline because they were all committed to it, that was very powerful.”
The frothing was out of control now, so, fearful of him attempting a re-entry off one of those hideous buffers that line the Gold Coast corridor, I let Tom go and we caught up the next day over a non-beer lunch at the Rissole.
Having hosted Felipe, Huevito and the rest of the Peruvian charm offensive at the 2016 Noosa Festival of Surfing, I knew how infectious their enthusiasm was, but I also began to understand that what excited Tom the most was that their presentation was symptomatic of a new approach to surfing’s future. He pushed his gnocchi aside and continued:
“Listening to the Peruvians, I was wondering where all of this was leading, then I suddenly realised that what has happened is that in many places now surfing has a much bigger package attached to it. The worldview of a surfer has a lot more involved in it now than just the riding of waves. The package includes clean water, environmental protection, lower levels of tourism, sustainable surfboards, support of home-grown business initiatives, and much more. But everything is prefaced by saying, we are surfers and this is what we want.
“These are values shared with places like Noosa, and most of the World Surfing Reserves. I think that’s a powerful way of looking at it, because, despite a reputation for being disorganized, there is an enormous and growing number of surfers around the world showing a lot of muscle in getting things done, making things happen for the general good. And it became apparent as the conference presented speakers from all over, that a big part of this was a new awareness of the necessity for surf management plans.”
Inspired by the conference, Tom Wegener plans to put a lot of effort into securing good outcomes for Noosa’s own surf management plan, an important plank of destination management, over the remaining two years of the current council term.
First Point first
Coincidentally, just before he phoned me and started frothing last week, Cr Wegener had voted remotely in favour of a motion moved by Cr Amelia Lorentson that Council prioritise and fund the protection of First Point, for longboarders the jewel in the crown of our five surfing points.
It’s probably quite unusual for Tom to vote with Amelia, but both being surfers – the only ones on council, if we exclude CEO Larry “Twinkletoes” Sengstock – how could they not? Yet another example of this surf management thing suddenly being front and centre. And Tom’s vote got the motion home, 4-3.
Cr Lorentson had requested that Council recognise First Point’s “unique significance and ensure its values are formally considered in coastal management”. In a further tabled Councillor Comment, she went on to describe Firstie as an “exceptional right-hand point break of rare geological and oceanographic quality” before concluding that, “For these reasons, First Point may reasonably be considered to demonstrate cultural heritage significance and may warrant assessment for potential listing under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992.”
Well, having been somewhat involved in the frustrating round-table meetings of 2021 with the former State Labor government, trying to formulate some kind of environmental protection for the World Surfing Reserves of Noosa and the Gold Coast, I say good luck with that. But if Cr Lorentson’s motion succeeds in putting a few more teeth into our surf management plan, then job well done.
