CRUISING FOR A BRUISING?

WE want a cruise ship terminal, doesn’t matter where.

That’s the strong message from voters in key Gold Coast state electorate seats after a Reachtel poll commissioned by this newspaper.

The results, on page four today, will come as no surprise to Mayor Tom Tate who was candid during his re-election campaign last year about his ongoing push for the city to have a cruise ship terminal.

It is unlikely there will be such clarity from the major parties in the lead-up to the state election, whether it’s later this year or next. But the state is likely to be a major player in the process with Cr Tate’s preferred offshore terminal part-occupying state land at Philip Park.

The Reachtel poll of voters in the state seats of Southport, Gaven and Bonney — shaping up as critical to Labor having any chance of returning to power — shows majority support for a cruise ship terminal on the Gold Coast.

Labor isn’t ruling out a cruise ship terminal, saying it eagerly awaits the city council’s business case. LNP is in favour if it stacks up “economically, environmentally and has community support”.

With the $3 billion ASF resort project knocked back last week along with 13,000 prospective jobs, and fears of a post-Commonwealth Games employment and development slump, a cruise ship terminal is shaping as a big-ticket item with the potential to the keep the city building on its strengths as a great place to live, work and play.