NSW neglecting cruise’s importance

CARNIVAL Corporation President Australia Marguerite Fitzgerald (pictured) does not believe the Government of New South Wales sincerely recognises the value of the cruise industry to the state.

Speaking exclusively to CW in the wake of the cancellation of the Yarra Bay terminal project (CW 29 May), Fitzgerald aired her “controversial” opinion the NSW government does not realise what a gem its cruise industry is.

“I’m not sure the full positive impact that cruise has on Sydney and New South Wales is fully understood,” she suggested.

“They have been informed, I’m not sure they truly understand.”

This belief, Fitzgerald said, stems from the contrast with the work being done in other states to grow their own cruise industry.

This leads her to doubt as to whether the importance of New South Wales’ cruise industry, and the need to nurture it, is “fully embedded” within the state government.

“It feels like there’s just a different level of conversation... there’s almost a little bit of complacency in New South Wales,” she said.

“In Queensland or WA we’re talking about the future of the cruising industry, we’re talking about how do we work together to build tourism.

“Queensland want to grow their tourism industry to $44 billion by 2032, that’s a huge growth target, so they’re having conversations with us about where do we go, how do we continue to leverage cruise, where are there opportunities?”

However rather than supporting the abandoned Yarra Bay proposal, Fitzgerald said Carnival has always been an advocate for finding a solution to a third Sydney cruise berth in Port Jackson.

“Our position is that we always had a preference for a different solution,” she said.

“That moment of sailing through the [Sydney] Heads and seeing the Harbour open up with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, that is something that we have always believed is fundamental to cruising, not just in and out of Sydney, but in and out of Australia.

“We have always been an advocate for finding a solution in Sydney Harbour.”

Fitzgerald believes this should see stakeholders ponder where there could be and should be support infrastructure for the cruise industry.

“It becomes a more creative conversation about how do we best utilise the assets that are already in Sydney Harbour,” she said.

“There needs to be recognition that there’s a problem and let’s get all the stakeholders to have a proper conversation about it.

“It’s not going to be resolved by just having ports doing their very best, and the cruise companies jostling for position.”

Fitzgerald said the cancellation of Yarra Bay also raised more questions around the difficulty of operating in Sydney and in Australia as a whole.

“There’s a broader question here, which is, at what point does it become too hard and too costly to operate in Sydney, but also Australia more broadly?

“Cruise ships are movable assets. You know, they don’t have to be in Sydney Harbour.”