Soldier loses his licence

A DEFENCE force worker has pleaded with a magistrate to allow him to keep his driver’s licence after drink driving.

Brock James Ferguson was intercepted by police on February 11 and returned a positive roadside breath test.

Police prosecutor Peter Obermayer said Ferguson was twice the legal driving limit.

Self-representing himself in the Townsville Magistrates Court, Ferguson told Magistrate Peter Smid he was remorseful for his behaviour.

“My actions did not represent my good nature, character and the type of person I am,” Ferguson said.

He said he was a gun attachment in the 107 battery 4th regiment.

The court heard Ferguson did not have any previous traffic history.

Mr Smid told Ferguson he would lose his licence because his employment would not be terminated.

“It would probably be easier if you had a licence, but punishment is meant to hurt,” he said.

Ferguson was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for three months. A conviction was not recorded.

FEDERAL Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has signalled support for some industries when Jobkeeper ends this month.

Speaking in Cairns yesterday, he said there would be extra support for aviation.

“The sector is really important because obviously it has been hit hard. If we can get more flights coming into Cairns, it would be welcome,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“The best thing we can do is get your airport operating again, getting, in the first instance, domestic tourists operating.”

He took a swipe at Queensland Premier

Annastacia Palaszczuk, saying it was critical to keep state borders open and the federal government had committed 13 per cent of GDP to pandemic support packages and the states and territories had averaged 7 per cent but the Queensland government had committed only 2 per cent.

“International borders will stay closed for a while yet. We have to follow the medical advice; the cost-benefit analysis of opening too early and then having an outbreak of cases would actually be very counter-productive for a place like Cairns,” he said.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce has foreshadowed the airline is planning for international travel to restart at the end of October, in line with the date for Australia’s vaccine rollout to be completed, with a July target for an increase in New Zealand flights.

“If you can get Qantas back here at Cairns Airport, that will be very important, and to hear that you had eight international destinations flying into Cairns PRE-COVID brought down to zero as a result of the pandemic, you can see walking the streets the impact it is having on retail and, of course, tourism,” Mr Frydenberg said.