Backpacker cap ‘will hurt industries’
LEAP OF FAITH: Gordonvale woman Sandra Lowe will face her fears to raise money for charity in honour of Toyah Cordingley. A CAIRNS woman will take to the skies despite her fear of heights with one clear message – the community will never give up hope that Toyah Cordingley’s killer will be found.
It has now been three months since the 24-year-old was killed at Wangetti Beach.
Despite no new police developments into the murder A UNION push to ban backpackers from working for a second year has been written off as crippling to Northern Australian economies.
Enterprise North executive manager Kevin Byrne has urged Labor leader Bill Shorten not to back the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ proposal.
The ACTU is pushing for a cap on the number of visas issued, a ban on advertising jobs solely to working holiday visas, and second-year visas to be scrapped.
“If implemented, this would devastate our agricultural in- investigation, the Far North community hasn’t given up.
Determined to play her part, Sandra Lowe is fundraising for Paws and Claws Refuge and Boarding Centre at Port Douglas, a facility Ms Cordingley volunteered at.
Ms Lowe said if the fundraiser met the target of $7000, she would skydive from 7000 feet next month.
“I am scared of heights … dustry in Northern Australia at a time when the industry is recovering lost domestic markets and expanding export opportunities into Asia,” Mr Byrne said.
“Additionally this would pull the rug from under our hospitality sector growth at a time when there are real signs of tourism recovery on the horizon.”
Mr Byrne acknowledged unemployment rates appeared high, but argued a large proportion of those unemployed were simply unemployable.
“The reality is we do not have a sufficiently large enough population base in the North from which to draw reliable and competent workers,” but I’m doing it for Toyah,” she said. “I simply want to keep the message going that the community will never give up.
“With a deep love for animals, Paws and Claws was where Toyah dedicated a lot of her time, so that’s why we want to donate as much to Paws and Claws as possible.” he said. “Government’s role should be to ensure that business and industry can plan for growth free of the uncertainty of labour market policy pressures.
“These remote regional economies are entirely different to the mainstream urban economies to the south.”
With a federal election looming, Mr Byrne warned there would be a groundswell of opposition to any party that threatened Northern Australia’s access to a reliable workforce and growth prospects.
editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost