Industry leaders share the biggest opportunities being missed in FNQ
Cairns is constantly underestimated, so we asked the decision-makers: What is the Far North missing out on?
With Far North Queensland constantly being “underestimated”, industry leaders say the region could be a major player in the Pacific and an industry powerhouse.
In the lead-up to the Cairns Post Bush Summit, decision-makers across the top end have shared what they see as the biggest opportunities in tourism, agriculture, health and industry that need to be tackled for the region to move forward.
The first Far North Bush Summit roundtable will be held on August 5 and is set to bring together politicians, leaders and stakeholders to address the unique challenges and opportunities across tropical Queensland.
Advance Cairns
Advance Cairns CEO Jacinta Reddan believed the Pacific needed to play a bigger role in the local economy and that having Port Moresby closer than Brisbane was a unique advantage.
“In many ways, the region is underestimated,” Ms Reddan said.
“We have a remarkable global tourism brand that is the envy of many, many places around the world and one of the leading global brands in Australia.
“But for many across Australia, there’s not a lot known beyond tourism.
“Our geographic location, where our closest capital city is Port Moresby and not Brisbane, that shouldn’t be seen through a deficit lens. That’s a significant advantage.
“Our proximity to the Pacific and direct flight connections to Asia mean we are the gateway to northern Australia.”
Tourism
Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen said he believed more Indigenous experiences, multi-day walks and better summer rebranding were essential to build on an already international destination.
“The ecocultural experiences are probably the ones that have the greatest opportunity for growth,” Mr Olsen said.
“So experiences on country with custodians, new adventure experiences out in nature, including the world-class mountain bike facilities in Smithfield are a really great opportunity to get people out and about.
“Wangetti has the potential to be a real game-changer in the way that people perceive the destination for multi-day trips into the rainforest.
“The other one for us would be summer for Aussie travellers. As a destination, we’ve really got to embrace summer for a domestic traveller.”
Health:
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Leena Singh envisioned the Far North as a global epicentre for tropical diseases medicine and research.
“Cairns Hospital is the major referral centre for health care in Tropical North Queensland – an area one and a half times the size of Victoria - and home to a unique culturally and geographically diverse population,” Ms Singh said.
“Our vision is to build upon Cairns Hospital’s already well-established reputation for research, education and innovation and create a health and innovation precinct, which brings together partners from interconnected sectors such as research, biotechnology, environment, education and entrepreneurship.
“The expansion to create a health and innovation precinct, with linkages to Asia Pacific, university partners and investors, will bring both local and global benefits.
“With sustained investment in infrastructure, workforce and partnerships, particularly through our planned Cairns Health and Innovation Precinct, we can drive research that informs global health strategies across the tropical world.”
Council
Cairns Mayor Amy Eden reinforced the notion that the region’s proximity to Papua New Guinea provided huge potential.
“We are connected by the seventh busiest international airport in the country, and Cairns is the closest Australian city to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, just a 90-minute flight away,” Ms Eden said.
“Over the past 10 years, the average value of annual exports from Cairns to PNG and the Pacific has been $53 million and $20 million respectively.”
Ms Eden also emphasised the need for the growing tourism sector to give back and fund sustainable growth.
“Cairns has a ratio of residents to visitors of just 4:1, far below the Queensland average of 11:1,” she said.
“We love showcasing and sharing our city and natural assets, but we could enable a more sustainable funding model where visitors also contribute to the cost of the infrastructure and services they use.
“A 2.5 per cent levy on short-term accommodation has the potential to conservatively generate around $16 million for our city each year.
“It means we can boost our investment in major events and destination promotion – attracting more visitors and putting more money in the pockets of local businesses.”
Planning
Urban planning group Upnorth director Kelly Reaston was confident Far North Queensland was positioned to drastically increase primary production and help solve global food insecurity, but wanted to see infrastructure investment that reflected value created in the top end.
“Far North Queensland has the opportunity to lead Australia’s response to global food security,” Ms Reaston said.
“Not just through the scale of its production, but through the way it plans, protects and invests in agricultural land.
“FNQ underpins national food security, drives Australia’s tourism brand, supports growing service industries and is key to future population and migration growth.
“Yet, we are still relying on mid-century roads, patchwork upgrades and patchy mobile phone reception, forget about internet.
“The Kuranda Range was built during wartime. You still lose phone reception on the Gillies (Range). These are not just inconveniences, they are constraints on productivity, safety and economic growth.
“If we expect this region to deliver, then we need fundamental infrastructure equality, planned well, and not delivered in an ill-considered hasty attempt to meet political commitments.”
Originally published as Industry leaders share the biggest opportunities being missed in FNQ
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