Far North’s tourism industry takes $80m hit as damage assessments, and more storm clouds, roll in
The new tourism minister has been in discussions with the Premier about getting Far North Queensland industry the help it deserves after ex-Cyclone Jasper wreaked havoc on the region.
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The Far North’s tourism industry has taken at least an $80m hit after just five days of cyclonic weather, according to new the tourism minister.
Cairns MP Michael Healy, who was informed of his promotion to minister over the weekend, said he’d had been in discussions with Premier Steven Miles and Treasurer Cameron Dick about financial assistance to the industry.
“There will be announcements about that in due course,” Mr Healy said.
“At this stage the impact is well over $80m. That’s not just operators losing revenue, but also the loss of forward bookings.
“My first priority is to get the Far North back on its feet. Understanding how important tourism is in our part of the world, I need to get significant attention to our industry.
“This is an industry that can work well with government. It needs to set its own direction and we can assist them.”
Major transport infrastructure, including multiple highways that connect the region to the rest of Queensland, were damaged by intense flooding over the weekend.
Mr Healy said the recovery of the tourism industry was inexorably linked to prompt infrastructure repairs.
“We've got Chinese flights coming in February. If we want them driving up to Port Douglas, we need to get those roads fixed,” he said.
“As soon as I can get onto the new transport minister I’ll be making some demands.”
Barron River MP Craig Crawford was informed on Friday by the new premier that he would lose his ministerial portfolio – which included child safety, seniors and disability services – after six years in the Queensland Cabinet.
He said he was a casualty of the horse trading by Labor Party powerbrokers that followed the resignation of ex-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“I was very disappointed to go out in a reshuffle … but that’s politics, decisions get made for you,” Mr Crawford said.
“I’m in the same faction and union as (the premier) … these deals were done behind the scenes and I was a casualty of that. Whether this decision was made by Steven or someone else, I’m not sure.
“This will give me more time to focus on Barron River. Being a regional minister is time prohibitive to focusing on your own electorate because of the time you need to spend in Brisbane.”
Mr Crawford said he had a list of demands for the government relevant to rebuilding the region following recent shock weather events.
Upgrading the Captain Cook Hwy was at the top of his priorities.
“I’ve been quite clear with the premier what my expectations are. Clearly the Captain Cook Hwy is too low. Funding to upgrade it is tied up with the federal government at the moment. It needs to be upgraded and raised. I’ve got strong expectations that we get cracking on that,” he said.
“It’s going to take a couple of days to get in and do damage assessments. We still have people in the Northern Beaches without power. An immediate priority is to restore power where we can and opening roads where we can so people can get to the supermarket.”
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