GROWING FORWARD
Eight changes making a difference in the Far North in 2019
THIS year is shaping up to be another period of growth for the Far North on the back of a prosperous 2018.
A host of big dollar projects are set to keep the region’s economy humming along nicely, including the long-awaited $127 million Trinity Inlet dredging project, the completion of the second and third of the Crystalbrook Collection hotels, a probable start on the first of the $550m Nova towers and initial stage of the $650m KUR-World eco-resort, a $55m Cairns Airport domestic terminal expansion and good progress on the $152m Smithfield bypass.
A federal election should help clear the air and get governing of Australia back on track.
ESTABLISHING Cairns as a leading sports hub, better water security and state-ofthe-art tourism infrastructure are on the wishlists of Cairns’ civic leaders for this year.
Cairns Mayor Bob Manning told the Cairns Post the council planned to make the most of the federal election this year.
“We’ll be actively involved and chasing projects that we want to see for Cairns,” Cr Manning said.
“We’ll be putting pressure on the government to commit real money to big projects.”
Among those projects is expanding Navy base HMAS Cairns to act as a supporting element for the proposed joint Papua New Guinea-Australian naval base on Nauru.
“We’ll be pushing for HMAS Cairns to be made into a more significant base. The Nauru base will be looking for HMAS Cairns to be made bigger, with more fleets,” Cr Manning said.
Securing funding for the Nullinga Dam is also at the forefront of the council’s plan of attack for 2019.
“We support Nullinga Dam,” Cr Manning said.
“Nullinga will be just as successful as Tinaroo. It’s easy to hide behind feasibility studies, but we need water security.
“We also have potential renewable energy projects here that will be as big as any others anywhere across the country.”
He was also hoping for the state and federal governments to work on rebuilding the Great Barrier Reef’s brand.
“There has been damage to that brand with bleaching, and with people coming here and saying that the entire Reef is dead, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.
“We’ll make sure that the state and federal governments remain committed to the Reef.”
But it’s the bid for a Cairnsbased NRL team from Papua New Guinea that Cr Manning is particularly excited about in the new year.
“We’ll push on with the Papua New Guinea NRL bid,” he said.
“This has support from Labor. It will support the building of a rectangular stadium,” which is a big deal for Cairns.
“And having an NRL team from Papua New Guinea will bring Papua New Guinea and Tropical North Queensland closer together for more business opportunities.”
Cr Manning said even though the council had its eye on big projects, it would push through with getting the small jobs done.
“The one commitment we’re sticking to the most is doing the jobs that people expect us to get done. It’s the little things that can get lost when you’re focusing on big things, but we’ll be sure gardens, water, rubbish collection and all of those jobs are done.”
It isn’t just Cairns Regional Council that is eyeing sporting opportunities for the city.
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said he was prepared to help Cairns transform into a sporting hub.
“One of the other opportunities that I see … at the moment we’ve got a Japanese swim team here preparing for the 2020 Olympics,” he said.
“This ties in with a vision I’ve had now for over a decade … Cairns becoming the fourth tropical sports conditioning centre in the world.”
He believed 2019 was the year for that to happen.
He said the number of improvements to the region’s sporting facilities were “building towards international teams coming to spend not only just a game but two or three months here”.
“We could have up to 40 or 50 elite athletes here at a time and this puts us with Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur – they’re the other three centres in the world and we are by far the best,” he said.
“To me, we’ll see continued significant growth as our sporting infrastructure becomes a reality.
“We’ve got international connectivity at our airport, we’ve got an ideal climate far better quite frankly than the other three countries in so much that we don’t have an issue with air pollution.”
“To me, I see this kicking off as a significant new industry … and while it’s supported through tourism it’s an industry on its own right.”
He said he wasn’t just looking at Cairns, but the Far North as a whole to make positive changes to this year.
“Another personal one of mine is working with ARENA to go to the next stage of ensuring we get mains equivalent power supply for residents north of the Daintree River.
“We’re moving very close to that and I would hope that we’ll get the full business case and costings in 2019 – ready for construction.”
“It’s been a 20-year journey for me. More than that actually. When I was elected in 1996, it was an issue that I raised in my maiden speech.”
Transport improvement is a given for Mr Entsch.
“I’m expecting and hoping to see the realisation of the extension of the national highway and the ring road, which are both major infrastructure projects for Cairns,” he said.
“You’re going to see the completion of the dredging of the harbour, which is going to see a significant increase in cruise ships, which is a major one.”
He believed the three Crystalbrook Collection hotels – Riley, Bailey and Flynn – are going to make positive changes for the city.
“They’re being done now and that’s going to make a huge difference,” he said.
As for the federal election, he told the Cairns Post this would be his last run for the seat of Leichhardt.
“I think it will go through to April. It has to be called by a date in that month and I think it will be. I’m quietly confident that that’s when it will happen. Get it out of the road so we can focus on other things,” he said.
“This will be my last time. I’m doing it deliberately. I seriously contemplated retiring and I know it’s not going to be an easy one, but at the end of the day, from my perspective, there’s hundreds of issues that I want to focus on.”
Cairns Chamber of Commerce president Nick Loukas said he was looking forward to an influx of tourists and students as new infrastructure came online.
“Everybody is hoping for a busier year this year than in 2018,” Mr Loukas said.
“This will happen with the new hotels and taking advantage of new visitors and tourists coming into the region.”
He said there had been a few problems with getting enough travellers into Cairns last year.
“We’ve had some issues with airline capacity, which has filtered through to everything,” he said.
“Airlines have increased their capacities and that will filter through to everything else.”
It was essential for Cairns to regain its footing in tourism this year, Mr Loukas said.
“Tourism has always been our number one industry,” he said, adding the untapped industry that more businesses had to look into was education.
Mr Loukas said attracting international students to the Far North was one thing, but keeping high school graduates in town would also bolster the city.
“In 2019, we also want to tell our students that they don’t have to go to Brisbane or elsewhere to study, but instead tell them that they can stay in Cairns and enjoy the benefits.
“Having students stay in Cairns or travel to study in Cairns will have benefits that will trickle down to all industries.”
Mr Loukas said smart employers would also be looking to invest in their staff.
“We want businesses to invest in Cairns and its people,” he said.
“It is an issue having enough skilled workers staying in Cairns, so we want their employers to make them feel like they should stay here.”