CONVOY IN $1.5B RAID ON CAPITAL

Team gears up for assault on Canberra armed with hit list

A HEAVY-hitting delegation of 51 business and community leaders is armed with a $1.5 billion-plus hit list aimed at Canberra.

The Cairns TNQ Convoy to Canberra descends on the nation’s capital next week to discuss funding and policy requests for the region with politicians, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

It comes as the Cairns Post reveals the full findings of a comprehensive survey of what readers want from their elected representatives.

FEDERAL politicians have never had a better opportunity than now to listen to secure crucial Far North Queenslander votes.

The Cairns Post has unveiled the full findings of its comprehensive survey revealing exactly what readers want from their elected representatives.

It coincides with the Cairns TNQ Convoy to Canberra next week with an infrastructure hit list worth more than $1.5 billion.

A delegation of more than 50 of the region’s most highprofile business leaders will barnstorm the offices of Parliament House on Tuesday and Wednesday with almost as many meetings.

Advance Cairns chief executive Nick Trompf said Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten had both lined up meetings.

“It’s just a full-frontal assault,” he said.

“We were asking for 50 meetings and we’ve got 48 of them, so that’s virtually all of the Cabinet and shadow cabinet members that we asked for. It’s an incredible response.”

Among the delegation’s chief demands are more than $400 million in vital upgrades for the Cairns marine precinct, including HMAS Cairns.

The joint marine and defence deputation, which includes representatives from the city’s three chief shipbuilding firms, will push the Federal Government to finally sign off environmental approvals for the $120 million Trinity Inlet dredging project.

They will also make the case for federal classification for Cairns as a strategic port, with all the increased develop- ment that would entail.

The Cairns Post’s survey results prove they have overwhelming community support, with 80 per cent of readers believing the current dredging campaign is too small.

The tourism group will be pressing for a $10 million marketing campaign, over and above funding already directed to Tourism Australia, to reposition the Great Barrier Reef as “alive and thriving”.

It is a concept most Far Northerners already believe — only 38 per cent of respondents thought the Reef was dead or dying — but a much harder sell overseas amid a saturation of negative press.

The group has a 10-page list of demands worth more than $1.5 billion and a full panel of policy directives.

“It’s going to come down to how well we get the message through,” Mr Trompf said.

“We’re not expecting them to come out next week with a laundry list of yes, yes, yes.

“It’s about making sure they’re fully briefed.

“Between now and next May, both sides of politics are going to be making a whole bunch of commitments.

“We need to make sure we’re at the top of the list.”