More options the better in cruise ship terminal debate

COMPETITION is good. If not for competition we could all be driving around in black Fords purchased at whatever price the manufacturer decides. Not that there is anything wrong with the Ford motor vehicle, I’ve owned quite a few.

That is why the Breakwater Group welcomes Denis and Lester Hughes dusting off the Tugun-Bilinga Beach CST/tourism hub proposal. (‘Cruisin for Tugun’, GCB, 13/8).

Competition also means there must be other contenders. With this latest entry we have council’s offshore proposal and the Brisbane terminal, however the Breakwater Group proposal sits in limbo. Breakwater’s proposal was denied entry into The Spit Master Plan public consultation process (SMPPCP) because of a decree/caveat placed by Annastacia Palaszczuk as Opposition leader while confronting anti-development protestors at the Spit.

Competition is about choice, a choice where we can decide the merits or benefits of a product or development and choose how it will add value to our lives. To be denied that choice by decree or caveat is anticompetitive, posing a restriction on our choosing what may be the best outcome, something unacceptable under the Restrictive Trade Practices Act which unfortunately may not apply in this case.

Decisions made in haste under the pressure of an election campaign may have a beneficial short-term effect but in the long term can prove disastrous by restricting future possibilities.

The social, infrastructure and economic benefits the government seeks within the SMPPCP will eventually come at a public cost through rates, levies or taxes. The Breakwater Group offers these benefits at no public cost under a public private partnership that remains open to further public consultation and input.

Isn’t this exactly the sort of deal our government boasts and needs to reduce the burden of increasing government debt, create jobs and build critical infrastructure while allowing the distribution of existing government funds over other needy projects?

Clearly there is good reason for the Premier to revisit her decision, to allow healthy competition by giving the people most affected a variety of choices in determining what is best for them. It’s not just a decision about allowing healthy competition but is also democracy in action. BOB JANSSEN, SPOKESPERSON BREAKWATER GROUP