Just say yes Defence Minister

MULTI-MILLION dollar funding to provide dry-docking facilities in Cairns comes under the spotlight today during Defence Minister Marise Payne’s first visit to Cairns in her ministerial role.

Some shipyard operators, Advance Cairns and Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch will be trying to persuade Ms Payne to fund a $100 millionplus common-user facility, including a vessel superlift. The push comes as Darwin is also making a similar case but Defence has decided all dry-docking of new offshore patrol vessels will be done at an existing common-user facility in Western Australia.

MARINE precinct operators will make a direct pitch for lucrative offshore patrol boat maintenance contracts to stay in Cairns when Defence Minister Marise Payne touches down today.

Tender documents released last week revealed the city’s shipbuilders would perform water-based maintenance on the four new 80m-long vessels home-based in Cairns.

But the ships will be sent to Western Australia for all scheduled dry-docking, unless, according to Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch, Cairns gets a $100 million-plus commonuser facility with a 3000-tonne syncrolift able to lift multiple vessels in tandem.

Senator Payne said discussions were already under way about how the navy could send more work to Cairns.

“As the northernmost naval base along the eastern seaboard, HMAS Cairns continues to play a key strategic role in Australia’s northern naval capability,” she said.

“Cairns industry is essential to providing sustainment and maintenance services for all of navy’s vessels which are based at and which visit Cairns.

“Over the next few years, the Turnbull government will be investing over $380 million upgrading facilities … at HMAS Cairns with a further $300 million on a base redevelopment beyond that in the late 2020s.”

Sen Payne will start today as a guest at an Advance Cairns members’ breakfast.

She will later meet about 25 marine precinct operators, before visiting the HMAS Cairns naval base and Porton Barracks at Edmonton.

Local shipyard operators insist the capacity to conduct dry-docking work already exists in Cairns and have called for Mr Entsch to reveal details about plans for the precinct.

“There’s still just the usual talk running around about the common-user facility,” Norship development manager Graham Wharton said.

“But we haven’t seen anything come back from the report that was supposed to be done for Defence.”

They should get that opportunity today.

Mr Entsch says Cairns urgently needed the facility and State Government support.

“The Northern Territory Government are all over this like a fat kid on a cupcake,” he said. “If we don’t do something on this, Darwin will kill us on it,” he said.

THE NORTHERN TERRITORY GOVERNMENT ARE ALL OVER THIS LIKE A FAT KID ON A CUPCAKE LEICHHARDT MP WARREN ENTSCH