O’REILLY BID A WINNER

IN Saturday’s Weekend Bulletin, Gold Coast Tourism boss Paul Donovan wrote about the quest to continually evolve the city’s appeal.

“As a city, and as a tourism destination, we have momentum,” Mr Donovan said. “The metrics and statistics in a wide range of areas look positive. So now is the time to commit and invest in the next wave of activity that will build diversity and a robustness to our economy.”

Today, Shane O’Reilly is taking that ethos and running with it.

For the past six years, across three different state governments, the managing director of the O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat has worked on a business plan to transform the Green Mountains campground in the Lamington National Park into a world-class eco-tourism mecca.

We’re talking floating tents among the trees, ready-made family campsites, a communal fire pit and new cooking facilities – and all the while keeping it affordable for visitors.

The proposal has been given conditional approval.

A previous owner of the land, the O’Reilly family wants to lease it off the government, mirroring business cases in Tasmania which have put the Apple Isle on the international eco-tourism map.

Mr O’Reilly’s proposal is a winner for tourism and a cash-strapped state government. Labor has little money for big-item projects, regardless of their merit and potential growth, and a lot of facilities in Queensland national parks are ageing. They are expensive to maintain and a burden to the taxpayer.

The Lamington Park project would appease that and provide a world-class tourism attraction in a pristine part of Australia.

As Mr Donovan wrote on Saturday: “The scenery, waterfalls, creeks and rainforest on the Gold Coast is equivalent or better (than the Milford Sound in New Zealand or Lakes District in northern England), but it needs the right plan, promotion and environmental management”.

Mr O’Reilly’s proposal is one of them.