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

Monday November 12, 2001 40th Edition

Following the strong and very convincing Federal Election win by the Coalition over the weekend, the main message is that Cairns and in all likelihood the rest of Australia, will continue to enjoy a stable and results driven Government. There have been no major changes to key political personal in Cairns, which has been welcomed by the majority of residents and key business and industry leaders.

National Coalition wins election convincingly
The National Coalition had a strong win in last weekend's Federal election. Political commentators and analysts generally felt that the current Prime Minister, Mr John Howard was re-elected due to his ability to make difficult and often unpopular decisions that were in the best interests of the nation. The Federal Member of Leichhardt (the Cairns Federal Electorate), Mr Warren Entsch was also re-elected by an overwhelming majority currently predicted to be as high as 12%. This is very good news for the Cairns region as the Federal MP Entsch has fought long and hard for the Government to provide funding for the tourist industry and the Esplanade Redevelopment Project.

ANSETT in $3.6 billion bid to get off the ground
ANSETT Airlines is a step closer to securing it's position as a major domestic airline in Australia with a private consortium offering a deal valued at $3.6 billion. The two key players behind the bid are well known entrepreneurs, Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox. The bid is dependent on support from the Federal Government and the ANSETT administrators have expressed that they believe the offer is almost certain to be accepted.

This is some more positive news for Cairns with the hole in the domestic aviation industry left by the collapse of ANSETT yet to be completely absorbed by QANTAS and Virgin combined.

Melbourne Cup celebrations hit Cairns
Like the rest of the nation, Cairns comes to a standstill the first Tuesday in every November as the Melbourne Cup Horse Race is run. All of the major hotels and clubs ran special Melbourne Cup lunches with thousands of people joining in on the festivities. Debate still rages concerning declaring the Melbourne Cup Day a nationwide public holiday. Judging by the festivities associated with the Cup this year it appears that the day is virtually a public holiday now.

Green Island named "Far North's Cleanest Beach"
The "Keep Australia Beautiful Council" and the Environmental Protection Agency have awarded Green Island with the award for Far North Queenslands Cleanest Beach. The award was presented to Daikyo who operate a luxury resort on the island. Green Island is approximately 30 kilometres off the coast of Cairns. It is a popular tourist destination and many local residents visit the Island on the weekends. Green Island is a true tropical paradise with teeming fish life, colourful corals, white sanding beaches leading to turquoise water and lush rainforest. Green Island really does have it all.

Cairns promoted in Japanese railway stations
Japan Airlines are conducting a promotion in 160 railway stations through Japan, featuring Cairns as the perfect holiday destination. The campaign was being run in conjunction with the Australian Tourist Commission in an attempt to promote special holiday packages for Cairns, then the Gold Coast and then Sydney. The Japanese market continues to show extremely high rates of growth in Cairns however in other parts of Australia the number of Japanese tourists is falling.

Lowest petrol prices in two years
Cairns motorists can expect to pay the lowest price in two years for petrol next week. This is due to reduced cost of crude oil. Petrol prices are expected to drop below 70 cents per litre, a price that many other countries around the world would consider unbelievably cheap.

Mixed fortunes for the Taipans
The Cairns Taipans experienced a mixed weekend, starting with an impressive victory over the Victoria Titans on Friday night (98 - 91). The roles were reversed on Saturday night as the West Sydney Razorbacks showed the Taipans how to play serious basketball, with a 130 - 80 crushing victory. The convincing victory one night was followed by a crushing defeat on Saturday night, which has left coach Guy Molloy scratching his head for answers. Overall, it has been a good start to the NBL season for the Taipans and support for team continues to be very strong.