We’re now a strategic asset

IT IS amazing what the whiff of an election can do for a critical seat like Leichhardt. Only months ago we heard whispers of a downsized navy base and uncertainty as to just how important we were to the big picture — could we grab a piece of the Ocean Patrol Vessel pie? Then came APEC and the belated awareness that China was flexing its economic muscle in Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific. Suddenly we were important again; a visit by the waiting-in-the-wings shadow defence spokesman Richard Marles probably didn’t do any harm either. Insider accounts suggest he was much more than open to the idea of Cairns being declared a strategic asset than the now Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne ever was. But then again, promises are easy when you are in opposition.

Whatever the case, someone in the halls of Parliament House has been able to burn through whatever miasma that has descended on our leadership in recent months and from the public relations catastrophe that was the coalition has been delivered a win for our fair Coral Sea town.

So now we are a “critical infrastructure asset”. Cool. Hopefully this can relight a sense of urgency about cementing our place as a maintenance hub for the anticipated OPVs — although that is as much about the shipyards getting on the same page as it is government action. Industry has to pull together and exploit the breakthrough.

Strategically it seems that our north has taken a back seat in recent years. Now it is catch-up time. It is reasonable to assume that a resurgent focus on assisting PNG would have follow-on effects to the economy. Bring it on.