The start of the extended hour patrols, coinciding with Christmas school holidays, means the red and yellow flags will be up across beaches from 7am to 6pm from Saturday.

But the extended hours and horror start to the summer that has seen two men drown in a family tragedy on the Sunshine Coast and a massive 32 people rescued from the surf across a single weekend, comes as surf lifesaving is experiencing pushback against its summer fundraising plan asking people to pay $1 for every hour they spend at the beach.

The plan has seemingly dismayed some beachgoers, with online and social media comments claiming it is a radical “fee” to go to the beach that is “shameful,” a “disgrace” and “an attack on our lifestyle.”

As a volunteer surf lifesaver, I’ve also had suggestions put to me over the past few days the fundraiser is “a blatant money grab” that “undermines one of the last bastions of Australian freedom.”

It’s been branded “a tax to access our own natural and wild spaces.”

Or, in what was sadly interpreted by an old salty as an outrageous attempt to deny everyone’s right to bare our bodies beachside, a sinister scheme to ban “common folk” (us) so beaches became the exclusive domain of the “elite” (them).

To be clear, under the “adopt an hour” campaign, Surf Lifesaving Australia is asking beachgoers to donate $1 for every hour they spend at the beach. They aim to raise $1.4 million across the country. That money would go towards ensuring volunteer surf lifesavers could continue to patrol and protect the public on beaches throughout summer.

Surf Life Saving Foundation CEO John Brennan said the organisation was simply asking the public ‘what’s an hour of safety worth to you and your family?’

“Our volunteer surf lifesavers dedicate over 1.4 million hours each year on patrol to keeping our beaches safe and are there for the public in the longest few moments of their life,” Brennan said.

In Queensland, despite lockdowns that included the flags being taken down for 11 weeks that covered the traditionally busy Easter period, and with fewer international and interstate visitors due to border closures, there were still an estimated 18.5 million visitors to Queensland beaches in the 12 months to 30 June 2020.

During this time, lifesavers patrolled beaches for 319,101 hours, rescued 2,555 swimmers in distress, administered 48,688 first aid treatments and carried out 660,105 preventative actions.

Sadly, there were still 11 drowning deaths outside the red and yellow flags.

Since the first day of the September school holidays this year, surf lifesavers and lifeguards have performed 495 rescues across Queensland.

Immediately after the ‘Adopt an Hour’ plan was announced and ahead of the first day of summer, over the weekend of 28 and 29 November, 32 people were rescued on Queensland beaches.

Queensland Lifesaving Services Manager Peta Lawlor said that number had more than tripled year-on-year, which was a concern.

“(But) that’s 32 people who made it home to hug their loved ones that night,” she said.

Unfortunately last weekend, the statistics were even more tragic.

Two men died trying to rescue a nine-year-old boy in a family tragedy at Teewah Beach at the Sunshine Coast on 5 December.

The boy was revived on the beach and rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital where he recovered, but the two swimmers who went to the rescue of a group of children caught by a rogue wave, including the boy, could not be saved.

On the same day, also on the Sunshine Coast, a woman in her 60s was pulled from the surf, treated by paramedics and rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital after a near drowning.

On the Gold Coast early Wednesday, two women were plucked from the water at Surfers Paradise and taken to Gold Coast University Hospital after being caught in a rip and almost drowning.

In a separate incident, a boy was also taken to hospital after experiencing difficulty in the surf on Wednesday night.

Gold Coast chief lifeguard Warren Young said the incidents highlighted the importance of swimming at patrolled beaches and between the flags.

“We just ask people to be patient and just don’t swim when there’s no flags up, it really is so important,” Young said.

That’s because there’s lifeguards paid to watch and life savers on the weekend who are paid nothing but volunteer their time to keep you safe. Is $1 an hour all that much to donate?