well boys and girls
Princess Anna of the Comrades
has started to close down Queensland
yep it didn't take long, good bye Queensland
but the comrade posters here on HC must be so excited??
with the loss of jobs and the injection of dollars from the Cruise shops
surely ?
just a thought
I wonder if Queensland is racing Victoria to the bottom of the bog ?
THE Queensland government has forfeited economic and tourism boosts for the state's far north by dumping plans for a Cairns cruise ship terminal, the opposition says.
THE Trinity Inlet project would have widened and deepened the existing outer shipping channel through dredging and could have been operational by 2017. It would have allowed larger, mega-cruise ships to dock close to the city.
Labor on Saturday released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) related to the proposal and said it illustrated the former LNP government's "complete disdain for Queensland's environment".
One of the most contentious aspects of the plan was the planned dumping of dredge spoil either at land or in waters near the Great Barrier Reef.
"This is another short-sighted, knee-jerk reaction from a Government making it up as they go," opposition spokesman for infrastructure Tim Nicholls said.
"It is now incumbent on Labor to detail what their plan is to bolster and support industry, tourism and create jobs in Cairns."
Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the Liberal National Party's $40 million commitment to the terminal in 2012 would never had made it viable.
But Mr Nicholls accused the government of pandering to the Greens and said the plans had been dismissed too quickly.
Labor should instead have considered all the options or considered funding partnerships with the private sector, he said.
"Labor are more focused on playing internal politics instead of governing the State and providing Queensland with an economic plan that will deliver jobs."
The government's announcement has been welcomed by conservation groups who branded the plan ill-conceived and unnecessary.
"Cairns' natural beauty alongside the Great Barrier Reef makes it a huge tourism drawcard," Australian Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Felicity Wishart said.
