FAR NORTH MUST LOOK TO GREENER PASTURES

It’s crunchtime and the Far North can no longer ignore the fact that the multibillion-dollar economy has relied upon tourism as the breadwinner for too long. For many years, business and community leaders have talked a lot about diversification and, despite the shocks of the pilot’s strike and the global financial crisis, keep falling back on tourism.

The community is now in the midst of its biggest financial emergency and come March 31, JobKeeper will end.

Many businesses have been relying on the government wage subsidy to keep staff employed but the harsh reality is rapidly arriving.

There is no doubt quite a few tourism operators will collapse and only the fittest and smartest will survive as international borders stay shut for at least another year, if not longer.

In the meantime, where does the future lie for the Far North?

Suggestions are as a green economy and Cairns Regional Council has hosted a roundtable discussion where more than 500 projects and initiatives were identified to support a clean and green recovery.

Among them were transitioning to electric transport, establishing reef and carbon credit markets, further investment in wind and solar projects, development of carbon neutral tourism experiences and holidays, opportunities for First Peoples to work on country, build on current innovations in the agriculture sector, the potentials of bioenergy, microgrid technologies, urban greening and city cooling projects and battery storage for residential neighbourhoods.

The Far North needs to seize on this emerging sector of the economy, seek business case funding for the most realistic projects, attract investment and get started now.

There will always be tourism but it cannot be the be-all and end-all. Nick Dalton Deputy editor