Skinny-dipping is a hallowed part of Australian culture with five of six states setting aside certain beaches for nudists.
The odd one out is Queensland, which used to call itself the ”sunshine state” but now, more implausibly, calls itself the ”smart state”.
In Queensland, the only jurisdiction where motorists get subsidised petrol, it’s still against the law to go naked on the beach. South Australia was the first state to legalise nudism back in 1973.
”I think it is really 15th-century attitudes,” Cate Molloy, who represents Queensland in the federal Parliament, said of the ban on nudity.
”If the Queensland community isn’t comfortable with a free beach in designated areas, they need to get out and travel.”
But Brisbane is adamant that it won’t fall into line and accept a proposal from lobby group Free Beaches Australia that the six unofficial nude beaches be designated official nude beaches.
”Non-nudists who are not offended by our nudity are welcome to share the beach and they could choose to remain clothed as long as they did not harass people who chose to go nude,” Free Beaches Australia spokesperson Anita Grigg said.
”We believe in the 21st century, those people genuinely offended by nudity in Western society are very much a minority.” – Sapa-DPA