The following comment is posted by Noonsite with the permission of Hervé Michel. Noonsite is currently investigating this issue on behalf of Hervé and is seeking clarification from officials at Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry.
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I am Hervé Michel, owner of the sailboat Mouez Avel, French flag.

I would like to report a problem when I arrived in Australia in Newcastle at the end of January.

Thanks to your always very useful information, I applied for a visa and completed the pre-arrival procedures in Newcastle before leaving Nelson in New Zealand.

I reported my arrival 12 nm from my arrival and respected the instructions given by the Australian administration.

The customs/immigration visit went very well. Courteous and efficient as always.
On the other hand, I would like to point out that the Biosecurity services asked me to pay them an invoice of AUS$435 and then the Newcastle Marina another invoice of AUS$450 to “dispose” of my bins. I’m not talking about the cost of parking my boat for the day (AUS$72).
I find this price of AUS$885 (US$550) very exaggerated to “dispose” of the trash of a single person for 10 days. Even if that included in part some fresh food left over from NZ… The customs officer who came on board the next day to give me the navigation license (free) and to whom I spoke about this prohibitive sum, called the marina manager and after a brief conversation, clearly told me that it was a scam. Too sad for a first experience in a new country, and not one from the third world!