Feds give Far North a boost

FROM its humble start as a tiny town marketed as a spot for southerners to escape the ravages of winter, to its increasing reputation as a place where the world comes to stay and play, Cairns’ future has never looked so promising.

The announcement today that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will provide $60 million for various measures to protect and improve the Great Barrier Reef is evidence of just how important the Far North is in our leaders’ eyes.

The number of crown-of-thorns starfish control vessels will grow from three to eight, $36.6 million will go towards measures to reduce runoff pollution entering the Reef, giving farmers incentives to cut down soil erosion, improve nutrient management, and restoring coastal and riparian vegetation in Reef catchments and Mr Turnbull said $4.9 million would be spent to boost the number of field officers protecting the Reef and the 64,000 jobs that rely on it.

Cairns has today been voted the Top Adventure Town in Australia as part of the 2018 Australian Town of the Year Awards by Wotif.com, so it is obvious that our region’s natural beauty is what draws the tourists.

Cairns finished ahead of Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and the Northern Territory’s Kakadu National Park, while Port Douglas was voted the country’s fourth-best adventure town. Ziplining through the Daintree Rainforest, rafting on the Tully River, skydiving over the perfectly white sands of Mission Beach and bungy jumping in the back blocks of Smithfield’s rainforest is drawing the tourists here in droves.

Government cash to help protect the Far North’s natural assets is welcome. Alicia Nally alicia.nally@news.com.au