Provide a lifeline for businesses
A THREE-POINT battle plan to kickstart a starving Cairns economy has been posed to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk – and it starts with pulling the proverbial finger out.
Borders closures to NSW and the ACT have left the Far North with only a speck of interstate tourist trade drip-fed from South Australia.
Vast sums of money spent on campaigns to lure visitors from NSW during the state’s September-October school holidays have been effectively rendered pointless, and one uncomfortable truth has become clear.
At least in the short term, tourism will not be the industry that claws the Far North out of strife.
Cairns Chamber of Commerce president Sally Mlikota said fast-tracking two major construction projects and introducing a suite of business support measures were crucial to the region’s economic survival.
“We have to look at shovelready projects, throw big money at them and get them started,” Ms Mlikota said. “Stop messing about.
“Let’s face it, we need the borders open and we need people to travel.
“That’s not an option at the moment, therefore, we need to look at something else.”
“First off the ranks was investing in the proposed Cairns University Hospital Precinct as a matter of urgency.
“What on earth is holding that up?” Ms Mlikota asked.
“Let’s get cracking on that and quickly.”
Next was the oft-discussed $174m Cairns Marine Precinct expansion plan to make the city a fully-equipped, full-operational regional maintenance centre for the Royal Australian Navy.
“The research has already been done ad infinitum,” Ms Mlikota said.
“Let’s get a bucket of money, and let’s inject it into these two projects to lead the long-term diversification of the Cairns economy.”
An extension of the State Government’s $10,000 small business adaptation grants and reintroduction of recovery loans also made the list – but lasting infrastructure was the order of the day.
“We need procurement with a serious local element to it, so it’s not just local jobs but also local businesses doing the work,” Ms Mlikota said.
“Let’s fast-track projects to get things moving outside of our reliance on tourism and aviation.
“We need to stop playing politics, get the money out and really look at local procurement,” she said.
Individual residents were also urged to keep money in the region by sticking to zealously parochial consumer patterns as much as possible, as buying local goods and services was not the government’s responsibility alone.