Developer must step up

FOREIGN investment in Australia is welcome and encouraged and is very much a part of the corporate fabric of the nation.

Many foreign investors have created successful businesses and employed many Australians over the years. Some have become proud Australian citizens and raised families in the Lucky Country.

Cairns has been fortunate to attract well regarded investors. In recent times: Ghassan Aboud, with his Crystalbrook hotel developments and other ventures; the owner of the Quicksilver Group, Shin Wantari; the Hong Kong-based billionaire Kuok family, who own the Shangri-La Hotel and the Pier Marketplace; and the Singapore developers of the proposed Nova City high-rise development, the Aspial

Corporation.

Chinese developer Benny Wu came to Cairns with grand plans about 10 years ago, among them the long-term lease of Double Island and its resort in 2012 with a vision to restore the property to its heyday, the Acacia Court Hotel for $18 million in 2013 with $80 million plans to drastically redevelop the site, the neighbouring stately old house he bought for $2.68 million and the vacant former Mad Cow and Casbah nightclub building in Spence St.

There are complaints about the island, hotel, the house and the Spence St building, mainly over their poor state.

Mr Wu may be considered a land banker but his company has a social and moral responsibility to maintain the assets.

His spokeswoman acknowledges the situation and says every effort is being made to rectify the problems.

But they have been ongoing and not a recent problem. It’s not good enough.