Crash dredges up discussion

THERE will undoubtedly be much talk today about the need to dredge Trinity Inlet to let more cruise ships dock in Cairns’ city centre.

There was traffic chaos along Yorkeys Knob on Saturday morning, following the crash between a car and a bus along the beach suburb’s main road.

The accident occurred just a few hours after the Golden Princess docked off Yorkeys, as part of a 10day cruise from Sydney.

Many of the 2600 passengers onboard the Princess Cruises vessel were struck on buses trying to make their way to tourist attractions.

Some of the passengers were so fed up waiting, police said they insisted on walking to nearby Skyrail.

But is this incident just an unfortunate circumstance of timing, or does it highlight how much we need cruise ships to dock in the city?

The 290m-long Golden Princess is way too big to berth at the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal.

The proposal to dredge a million cubic metres of dredge spoil from Trinity Inlet will, says Ports North, allow for an extra 70 cruise ships – potentially up to 300m in length – to visit Cairns each year by 2031.

This represents an opportunity to generate more than $848.6 million in benefits to the region, boosting tourism and the economy.

The Queensland Government is assessing the draft environmental impact statement for the Cairns Shipping Development Project.

The project, of course, needs to stack up environmentally before any consideration of its economic benefits.

But if it does get approved, it may be the last time we hear about cruise ship passengers being held up in a traffic jam. Daniel Bateman daniel.bateman@news.com.au FOR THE RECORD: The Cairns Post is committed to accurate, fair and fearless publication of news and commentary. But we acknowledge and aim to promptly correct errors when they occur. Corrections, clarifications and explanations the newspaper wishes to make will appear in this space. If you are aware of an error in this newspaper, please contact editorial@cairnspost.com.au or phone 4052 6627.