Mayor to woo cruise liners

GOLD Coast mayor Tom Tate will personally woo cruise companies to commit to stopping on the Gold Coast overnight at the proposed cruise ship terminal.

But the mayor has already told one company they can “get stuffed” after Carnival Australia said they would only be interested in the Gold Coast as a stop-over rather than a home base.

International investors to build the terminal, which will be a public-private partnership, have already had discussions with Cr Tate about potential agreements.

Cr Tate’s promise to personally lure cruise lines came after the Gold Coast City Council voted 10-4 to devise a business case to take to the state government for a terminal. The meeting heard: • It would take a private investor in the terminal about 30 years to recoup their money.

• About 65 ships would visit in the first year, rising to a maximum of 212.

• A home port was the only viable option.

• The terminal would be designed to take 360m ships – a larger capacity than Brisbane.

• Cr Tate guaranteed ratepayers would not bear the cost of the terminal.

• Each passenger would spend about $159 a day on the Gold Coast.

• It would be 18 months before a full proposal was ready to put before the state government.

• A strong emphasis would be put on targeting cruise lines from Hong Kong.

Cr Tate told the Bulletin after the meeting he would personally meet with cruise lines across the world to entice them to the Gold Coast.

“I am going to talk to them,” he said. “Build it and they will come. “We can’t get to the stage of heads of agreement but what’s there now is enough for a letter of intent.”

Carnival Australia, one of the country’s largest cruise lines, has already said publicly they will only use the Gold Coast a home port, a decision which was not good enough for Cr Tate.

“They can get stuffed,” he said.

Cr Tate said the company already held a monopoly at the Brisbane terminal, using 96 per cent of their berthing time.

“A monopoly is not a good thing and not what we want,” he said.