PORT PLAN IS SHIPSHAPE
Chairman says dredging work can pass environmental test
PORTS North chairman Russell Beer has labelled the organisation’s Trinity Inlet dredging plan as “sensible and affordable”.
“I think it ticks all the boxes,” he said of the environmental impact statement, following a $120 million state government pledge.
WHILE Cairns community leaders are lauding the $120 million promise made by state government towards the Cairns Port upgrade and expansion, others have labelled it pre-emptive and a political move.
Mayor Bob Manning said action was needed, not just a promise.
“We’re a short distance out from an election. If all the money is paid up that’d be wonderful, but I think there could be a few hurdles along the way,” he said.
Ports North chairman Russell Beer was “delighted” with the funding announcement.
“We’ve always had the impression we’ve had government support and they’ve confirmed it,” he said.
Dredging of Trinity Inlet now rests with approval of the environmental impact statement, which is due for submission at the end of the month.
“We’ve put a lot of work into the EIS. We’re confident we’ve done a good job and addressed all the issues,” Mr Beer said.
“We’re now in the home stretch and looking forward to getting the final approvals and getting on with the project.”
Cairns and Far North Environment Centre president Denis Walls believes state government is “jumping the gun” in the face of an upcoming election.
“The EIS is still not out. It is kind of off in a way that they would pledge money based on a hypothetical,” he said.
“The government has obviously been under a lot of pressure from the advocates of the port expansion… it’s obviously a political move to sure up some votes for Labor in the upcoming election.”
LNP candidate Cam Marino believes it to be a “hollow promise”.
“We started the project back in 2012 and commenced the EIS,” he said.
“We have had three years of missed opportunity – tens of thousands of tourists missed, missed jobs, missed investment and missed cruise ships.”
Advance Cairns CEO Kevin Byrne has thrown his support behind the government backing. “The dredging will allow us to attract bigger ships, up to 320m,” he said. “That’s the size of 80 per cent of ships worldwide. These are the ships that would usually dock at Yorkeys Knob.”
Cairns Chamber of Commerce chief executive Deb Hancock agrees.
“We’ve been pushing for the funding for this project for about five years now,” she said. “It’s been a long and drawn out process.”
Cr Manning agreed that “dredging is something that needs to be done”, but said the Convention Centre was also critical for the region.
“We need $180 million for that project,” he said.