Mayor’s View – 24th April, 2008
Last week the state government announced that the Cairns Airport will be sold and the money applied to building a new hospital in Cairns. Whilst this is a legitimate decision, there are a number of factors and concerns that have many people worried. The haste with which the decision appears to have been made is one factor and the lack of any community consultation is another. There is also uncertainty about the viability of aviation service operators and the numerous retail outlets at the airport.
There is an urgent need for the state government to build in safeguards to protect the tourism industry in particular from decisions that might be made by the successful Cairns Airport purchaser to rationalise services across a range of airports, in the interests of overall commercial success. Just as the sale of Telstra was accompanied by service delivery requirements, the sale of the Cairns Airport must be similarly conditioned.
A thriving international and interstate air service is vital for our wider region and for this reason the Cassowary Coast Regional Council joins with others to safeguard these services. The local airports of Innisfail (Mundoo) and Mareeba are both positioned to offer flight facilities including servicing, training, charters and aerial agricultural services.
Innisfail Airport runway lighting is being updated at a cost of $358,000, a decision by the former Administrator Graham Webb, who also called for expressions of interest in running the airport. The new council is still to consider the matter of the Mundoo Airport and it is mindful of the same sorts of issues referred to above regarding the Cairns Airport. Please note that Council is not considering selling Mundoo Airport, but will look at other options to ensure that a return is made on our investment.
The Cairns Port Authority will become a shadow of its former self after the Cairns Airport sale and will only have the seaport of Cairns to administer. From being a significant profit making enterprise developed by the hard work of locals it will become a relatively minor operation. Unsubstantiated talk that the port of Mourilyan may come under the control of the Cairns Port Authority as some sort of compensation is of serious concern for the Cassowary Coast Region. This port is an asset of the local region and is integral to the sustainable development of Innisfail and the surrounding region. Residents of the Cassowary Coast will no doubt fight to prevent this asset being administered elsewhere and as Mayor I am already on record as saying that Mourilyan Harbour should be administered by the local regional government. Under my leadership the Cassowary Coast will not pursue the sale of Mundoo Airport and will seek the administration of Mourilyan Harbour.
It is all very well for elected governments to sell off assets, but at some stage they will run out of such assets, particularly cash flow positive assets or vital pieces of infrastructure, and what do future generations then do?
Cr Bill Shannon
Mayor