Men blasted for ‘disgraceful’ Murray River act

A local business owner has blasted an incident which saw women lock themselves in their houseboat away from drunken men trying to board.

Nine women who hired a houseboat on the Murray River for the weekend have shared their terrifying experience when a group of men on another boat harassed and threatened them.

On Saturday evening, footage captured a drunken group of men hurling abuse, flashing their genitals, and throwing glass bottles at the women while ramming their boat and clambering aboard.

The women, some of whom were pregnant, alleged that some of the men even jumped onto the houseboat and urinated on their belongings.

The disturbing ordeal took place while the women were moored near Echuca-Moama, a border town between NSW and Victoria.

Further footage of the incident aired on Sunrise on Tuesday morning, showing the moment at least one of the men briefly boarded the women’s vessel.

The women are heard screaming at the men to get away.

The man who boarded their vessel then leaps back to his boat but falls into the water, narrowly missing its outboard motor.

One of the women, who did not want to be named, told 3AW the boat of about 15 men had come up to them earlier in the day, and the men had asked to get on the houseboat, but the women declined.

She said they were “really scared” as they were moored in an isolated area on the river.

“We tried to lock ourselves upstairs so they couldn’t get up,” she explained.

“They kept coming back, they drove into the boat, there were death threats.”

The owner of the hire boat company which leased the vessels to the men, and the women, lashed out in a statement.

Damian Nunan, owner of Moama on Murray Houseboats, told 9News the incident was the worst he’s seen in over a decade.

“I would have to say that it was my worst experience of dealing with a group by a long way in more than 15 years of experience,” he said.

“It has left us with a very bad taste in our mouth.

“The group were very aggressive and threatening in their behaviour and were captured yelling derogatory comments to the female guests on our houseboat, boarding their boat without their consent and throwing full beer bottles at the houseboat upon their departure.”

He said the men had even acted aggressively towards him.

“They returned the boat 1.5 hours late with no apology and I felt threatened to the point where I recruited two friends to be there with me in my interaction with them,” he said.

“I also contacted police, which I have never felt the need to do previously.

“It was the most disrespectful display by a group I have ever come across by a long margin.

“My concern is that if this group is allowed to behave like this without ramifications, it will continue to occur and escalate even further.

“I had real concerns for the safety of others upon their departure from our boat.

“We have already made it clear that we do not want any member of the group near our boats again but we would like to see real consequences for this behaviour.”

NSW Police have started an investigation the incident.

“Officers have been told on the afternoon of Saturday 11 March 2023, a group of unknown males on a pontoon boat asked to board a moored houseboat along the Murray River at Moama, however, were declined by women already on board,” a NSW Police statement explained

“The men allegedly became verbally abusive towards the women, and about 6pm that day, some of the males climbed onto the houseboat without permission, while others still on the pontoon boat exposed themselves to the women and threw glass bottles at the houseboat.

“Police have been told the pontoon boat was driven into the houseboat several times, before the males left the area.

Police said a report was made to a Murray River Police District, who are looking into the incident.

“We want to make sure that other women who are on the river feel safe, and that no one has to go through what we went through,” one of the women said.