Dredging vital for growth
CAIRNS Port has the potential to be the jewel in the city’s crown by attracting large cruise ships to bolster the economy and employment.
Unlike most other ports, the cruise terminal is in the centre of the city, which is great for passengers to explore Cairns on foot. However, at present, Cairns is seen by the Labor/Green State Government as a boutique port which should not be expanded.
The Cairns Port Development Group asked all candidates for the electorate of Cairns many questions with respect to the dredging and widening of the inlet and channel to accommodate larger shipping. Labor, the Greens and Rob Pyne are happy to have Cairns remain a boutique port by not allowing larger cruise ships, bulk carriers as well as Australian and foreign warships to visit the port.
On the other hand, the One Nation, LNP and the Katter Party are keen for the port to be expanded. Those parties can see past the green ideology and have identified the economic benefits and employment opportunities.
If Cairns is going to prosper, major dredging of the inlet and channel to accommodate larger ships must be a priority and an election issue. Ian Fischer, Bentley Park 1783: First successful hot-air balloon
staged above Paris. 1789: Convict James Ruse establishes experimental farm at Rose Hill (Parramatta), NSW. 1877: Thomas Edison announces
invention of the phonograph. 1920: The Irish Republican Army shoots dead 14 British agents in what becomes known as the country’s first Bloody Sunday. 1936: Opening of Hume Reservoir on
Australia’s Murray River. 1938: Western border areas of Czechoslovakia are forcibly incorporated in German Reich. 1956: UN General Assembly censures
Soviet Union for invading Hungary. 1962: China agrees to ceasefire on IndiaChina border. 1991: UN Security Council chooses Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt to be the new Secretary-General. 1999: China successfully completes an
unmanned spacecraft test. 2012: The first group of asylum seekers, including children, are transferred from Australia to Papua New Guinea’s remote Manus Island. 2013: Former Bundaberg doctor Jayant Patel (above) is handed a two-year suspended sentence for lying to gain employment. 2016: Two people die during Melbourne’s thunderstorm asthma event as hundreds of calls for help hit the city’s emergency services. CONDITIONS: RESPONSIBILITY for election material in this newspaper is taken by Jennifer Spilsbury, 22-24 Abbott St, Cairns. Letters must be 150 words or fewer. Send them to PO Box 126, Cairns 4870 or email letters@cairnspost.com.au. They must include your name, home address and telephone number. Letters that cannot be verified will not be published. The Cairns Post reserves the right to edit all letters and reproduce them in electronic form. TXT messages should be short. Include your name and suburb. Normal call costs apply. Our privacy policy is at www.cairnspost.com.au