How beach tents sparked a turf war in Australia

For years, a controversial invader has been slowly taking over Australia’s beloved beaches.

Swallowing the sand, blocking ocean views and turning the coast into an annoying maze, is a sea of ​​large beach tents, called huts in Australia.

“There are so many people. They are everywhere,” Sydney resident Claire, 30, told the BBC.

For her (and most Australians) cooling off on a sweltering day means a long drive to the coast, plus an eternity trying to find a parking spot. Now the cabana trend means another beach battle awaits.

Polyester covers flutter in the breeze as far as the eye can see. Some are empty, set up at dawn and then abandoned for hours, until the owners actually want to use them.

“The sheer amount of space people take up… (when) you’re just trying to find a sand-free square centimeter to put your towel on, it can be a little frustrating,” Claire says.

She is not alone in her irritation. Several summers of simmering tension, in the early days of 2025, exploded into an all-out turf war, sparking debate about Australian culture and beach etiquette.

A dispute over the acceptable use of cabins has dominated social media, generated a wave of op-eds and television segments, and even dragged in the prime minister.

Self-described haters say entitled cabana crews are hogging public space and disrespecting other beachgoers.

“When you’re…polluting the beach with your four huts next to each other, where is Guncle (gay uncle) Nic going?” said anti-hut crusader and TikToker Nic Salerno on TV talk show The Project.

“I just want my space on the beach, guys.”

But the pro-cabin mob says seeking protection from Australia’s cruel sun is not a crime, and it’s every man for himself.

Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world, and many supporters – including national charity the Cancer Council – argue the new trend should be celebrated.

“My partner and I have a cool cabin because we both burn very easily and don’t want to die of skin cancer at 30, hope this helps,” one person wrote, responding to a TikTok rant.

No one is discounting the importance of sun protection, cabin critics respond, but they say it’s just a convenient excuse for many of the people who use beach tents.

Half the time they’re not even sitting under shade covers, they say, and there’s no need for two people to set up an entire tent for an hour or two, when sunscreen and a hat will suffice.

Other cabin devotees are more direct about their motivations. Breakfast TV presenter Davina Smith admitted that for her it’s all about snapping up “the best real estate” on busy beaches.

She is one of the people who raise their castle huts early in the morning to reserve territory for her family later that day.

“There’s a lot of research on this. You get up early, you have to watch the tides. You can’t just leave it there and walk away… you invest in it,” Smith argued on Nine’s Today programme.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among the hordes upset by this trend: “That’s not fashionable,” he said on the same program.

“One of the best things about Australia, unlike other parts of the world, is that you go and you have to pay to go to the beach. Here, everyone owns the beach… And that’s really a violation of that principle “.

Even lifeguards have opinions on the matter, Some local media said that cabin camps can make their work more difficult..

There are a number of cultural quirks that make Cabanagate have Australians more nervous than a magpie in spring.

First, the country loves to think of itself as an egalitarian society – the land of one “justice” – and that extends to the use of one of its most precious national assets.

“Australian beaches have always been seen as shared spaces, democratic spaces where social hierarchies dissolve… (they are) seen as a great equalizer,” says Ece Kaya, a researcher at the University of Technology Sydney.

And Australians are “fiercely” protective of that ideal: “They see it as a birthright,” says Chris Pepin-Neff, who studies Australian beach culture.

They point to the backlash that occurred in 1929, when bathers at Sydney’s Coogee Beach were forced to pay for access to the only part of the water covered by shark nets. More recently, an offer to lease part of Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach to an exclusive beach club was met with widespread outrage.

And while the use of sprawling cabins is a relatively new phenomenon, there has long been “enormous class tension” over the use of the country’s coastline, adds Dr. Pepin-Neff.

A lack of infrastructure, affordable housing and community attitudes tend to exclude ordinary Australians from coastal areas, while those natural assets are often monopolized by those lucky enough to live there.

“And there’s a perception that it’s encroaching even more, (so) the average family can’t even get a spot on the beach.”

But they say there’s no real data on who uses the cabins and why. They also argue that there are many good reasons why people might use them. Maybe they’ve traveled a long way and plan to stay at the beach longer, or maybe they have a disability or young children they need to care for, she says.

“There’s a balance between a free, open beach that everyone can use and making sure it’s respectful.”

However, they offer no defense for the “land bankers”: “As a Sydney resident, I think that’s an abuse of privilege… it’s not a fair decision.”

However, as the debate intensifies, there are some calls for a truce to restore peace to Australian shores.

Beachkit Australia founder Rowan Clark, who sells kits including cabanas, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that even he thinks cabana lovers should be more courteous.

“They should only allow assembly at the back of the beach in line,” he said. “Once this runs out, this style of shadow should no longer be allowed.”

Others want authorities to control it, as some in the United States have done. There are suggestions that councils could limit how many huts can be set up on their beaches and where.

But Sydney resident Claire, for all her anger, fears this could tip the scales in the other direction and exclude other people from using the beach.

“You don’t want to be too precious about it, obviously… it’s just the beach, first world problems, right?

“I think in general we should try to be considerate of each other.”