A weekly re-cap of the events that have made news in Cairns over the past week.

Monday February 12, 2001 1st Edition

Election Fever
Cairns is well and truly in the midst of election fever, as is the rest of Queensland. As usual each party is busy warning us that if we vote the wrong way, our world will cease to exist. At the end of the day Australians, like the rest of the people of the world, are somewhat cynical about any election promise. We have all been on the receiving end of politicians failing to deliver what they promise and realistically, the only time that the voice of the people is truly heard is right around election time. Anyway, on Saturday the 17th of February all of Queensland will be going to the polling booths to decide whether we maintain the status quo or whether we feel that it is time for a change. We will keep you up to date.

Worlds largest rain gauge
The historic Canecutters' hotel just north of Innisfail has recently installed what is believed to be the worlds biggest rain gauge. Standing over 6 metres tall the purpose built gauge may not be big enough in extreme wet years. Last year Innisfail (90 kilometres south of Cairns) had over 5 metres of rain so a full gauge is not beyond the realms of possibility. The gauge is located at the Garradunga Hotel, a local icon built in 1888 and rebuilt in 1929 following a highly destructive fire that virtually destroyed the old hotel.

More debate on the Esplanade Lagoon
The Cairns Esplanade Redevelopment has been in the news again as various parties have begun to complain that having a public swimming lagoon built into the project is not necessary, and indeed even unpopular. Not surprisingly every poll and survey says the exact opposite and in fact, there is overwhelming community support for the inclusion of the lagoon in the redevelopment project. The end result of this redevelopment will be a stunning waterfront park land, with large areas for families and tourists to enjoy.

Cairns Convention Centre success
Since the Cairns Convention Centre opened in 1996 it has worked tirelessly to promote the region as one of the best convention destinations in the world. It appears that the message is getting through as the number of conventions being held in Cairns continues to grow each year. There are many reasons for the success with the high quality of accommodation available and the abundance of things to see and do making it to the top of the list. Whilst the facilities cannot house extremely large conventions the small to medium conventions, up to 5000 delegates are perfect.

Banning of Oil Exploration on the Great Barrier Reef
As hard as it may be to believe the Queensland State Government is considering allowing mineral exploration companies to drill for oil in certain parts of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The peak tourism promotional body, Tourism Queensland has called for action to permanently ban any form of mineral exploration within the parks boundaries. The Government response to this call is that they are simply looking to see if there are any mineral around.

Council gets tough on rates
Cairns City Council has been forced to sell properties to recoup rates. The individuals concerned have not paid their rates for quite some time and as result the amounts are substantial. This get tough stance is in line with the overall Council policy of reducing debt, and whilst it may be unpopular with those that have not paid their rates it is with those residents who pay on time, every time.

Zoo given thumbs up
Plans for a specialty zoo to house endangered wild animal species has been given the go ahead by the Mareeba Shire Council. The proposed park will be located at Koah, which is north-east of Mareeba and about 130 kilometres from Cairns. The plan is to build the zoo on a 40 hectare block in a sparsely populated area. The zoo is expected to house Sumatran Tigers, Asiatic Lions and cheetahs as well baboons, monkeys and apes. The developer behind the project is Mr David Gill, owner of South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Cumbria, northern England. The north Queensland zoo is due to open in the middle of next year.

Cairns awash with giant King tides
Every year Cairns experiences above average high tides in late January or early February, depending on the phases of the moon. This year was no different with the high tides experienced causing widespread localised flooding in the low lying areas of Lake St, Parramatta Park and Westcourt. The high tides also provided a pathway for some of the less popular citizens of the City, namely the crocodiles, to explore new territory with spottings of the animals throughout the flooded areas. Some of the outlying areas such as Innisfail and the Cairns Northern Beaches experienced considerable damage as the King tides and some storm surge combined to erode beaches and coastal strips.

Ship owners given $400,000 fine for running aground
Owners of the Malaysian freighter, Bunga Teratai Satu which ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef three months ago, were fined $400,000 for the bungle. Owners of the vessel, The Malaysia International Shipping Corporation pleaded guilty in Court and the amount of the fine was kept minimal due to the cooperative approach the company had taken by paying for the clean up at the site and for on-going rehabilitation. This does highlight the ever present danger the Great Barrier Reef faces of ships running aground, particular oil tankers.

Cairns Shipbuilding firm joins space race
Long established ship building company NQEA, have become actively involved in the development of a new rocket designed to carry small payloads into outer space. NQEA owner, Mr Don Fry has been involved in the project for 8 years and this week he would present one of the rocket parts that his company has produced to the University of Queensland. The scram jet is an air-breathing, fuel powered, supersonic combustion engine able to travel seven times faster than the speed of sound.

Tourism boom predicted
The Australian Tourist Commission has predicted a boom period for Australian tourism in the next five years. This is a result of the enormous international coverage that the county has received in the past year, most noticeably with the Olympics. Cairns is well situated to enjoy this boom as the Great Barrier Reef is considered one of the most popular attractions in Australia. Further free publicity is being experienced with the Survivor Series, which was recently filmed in north Queensland.

Steam Engine ready to hit the tracks
The Kuranda Railway is one of the icons of the area. Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors travel on this historical train as it winds it way towards to village in the rainforest, Kuranda. Soon tourists will have the choice between the old Kuranda train and a steam train. Mr Michael Barnard has been working on the project for a number of years. The size of the project has been daunting but now that the locomotive has arrived, the service is due to commence in the very near future. The actual Kuranda Rail is particularly suited for steam trains with lots of old tunnels and bridges that will provide excellent photographic opportunities as well as an authentic experience for travellers. The train will also help some of the older local residents who still remember the old steam trains that used to run on the line delivery food and labour to Atherton Tablelands and returning with fresh produce and timber.

Ergon Energy lose green image
The main energy provider in the region, Ergon Energy, has come under fire for unnecessary clearing of National Park rainforest. The felling of the trees was unauthorised and in most likelihood it was a simple mistake, however due to the scale of the damage, over 2 km cleared, it is expected that there will be harsh penalties applied to the company for this environment breach.

Bob Dylan announces visit to Cairns
Aging rock legend Bob Dylan has announced that he will be touring Australia in March this year. As a part of this tour he will be including a stop in North Queensland where he will be playing at the Cairns Convention Centre to a crowd that is expected to be between 5000 and 10000.

Cruise Ships love Cairns
Cairns is developing a reputation as the Cruise Ship capital of Queensland with the Cairns Port Authority expecting at least the same number and possibly more ships to visit the City this season. When the cruise ships do visit they provide a strong cash injection to the City in a time that is traditionally slow for tourists.

Cairns Regional Gallery boasts better than expected profit
The Cairns Regional Gallery has started the financial year almost $38,000 better off than budgeted for. In what was a patchy six months with a number of ongoing interruptions to normal business and tourism including the introduction of GST and the Olympic Games, the result is excellent and bodes well for the coming year. The results also reflect the Gallery moving from an annual loss into its first profit period, which coincided with the valuation of the Gallery's collection at $728,500, more than double the purchase price.