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

Monday July, 29 2003 119th Edition

Underwater gallery first for region
Photographer Matt Haling has opened the first underwater gallery in Far North Queensland at the new Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns. Mr Haling has spent some 6000 hours underwter capturing images displayed at the gallery. After eights years taking snaps from around the world, Mr Haling has finally returned to Cairns to set up Ocean Galleries, which was launched last week. “The whole reason I am doing this is to share the images with people – there are so many people who don’t get to the water’s edge – and even for divers who don’t get to see some of these things,” he said.

Overseas students aid local street kids
A group of 15 Japanese students who heard about the plight of Cairns street kids recently donated their own money to Street Level Youth Care, a Cairns youth charity. The students aged between 15 and 17 donated $10 each to the charity which feeds homeless children every night. Sun Pacific Language College director Gina Victor said “it’s just wonderful, it was their idea.” The college will also be donating $50. Street Level Youth Care helped 411 new street kids in the past 12 months, almost double the figures of the previous year.

Kuranda Amphitheatre to reopen
The 22 year old Kuranda Amphitheatre which was closed due to insurange woes in 2001 will be reopened in August after huge community effort to solve the problem. The theatre was used extensively for community arts for 20 years until insurance premiums went from $3000 to $18 000. Since then the community have scaled down the venue, completed basic maintenance and developed a plan to save the performance space. The relaunch which has been named The Energy Circlewill take place on August 3. Internationally renowned acts like The Waifs and The John Butler Trio have already booked to play at the venue.

Business confidence skyrockets in Cairns
Business confidence has soared in Cairns for the September quarter, with around a third of companies planning to employ more staff, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey revealed. Over 50 per cent of business owners expected substantial rises in consumer demand for this quarter. Trevor Mahony of PriceWaterhouseCoopers also said 30 per cent of companies intended to increase staff. “This is a significant reversal on the predictions of the previous quarter which forecast a contraction in employment levels,” he said.

Overseas students get in touch with local wildlife
James Cook University put on a traditional Aussie welcome including some creepy crawlies for the official arrival party of 110 international students who will study in Cairns and Townsville. The students enjoyed an Aussie barbecue, were given an insight into Australian culture and life in Far North Queensland, and a briefing on JCU policies and facilities. Queensland National Parks and Wildlife staff were also on hand to give an introduction on local plants and animals. Around 80 per cent of students are from the US with others from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Indonesia and China.

126 year old gravesite uncovered
The exhumation of the city’s oldest recorded grave site has been completed after it was in danger of collapsing into the Barron River. All that remained of the 126 year old grave of Cairns policeman Constable Michael Dwyer was a signet ring, three small pieces of material and a number of nails from his coffin. The grave is to be relocated to a new site neighbouring the cenotaph in Stratford in September. Officer in charge of Cairns police forensics Sergeant John Burns said Constable Dwyer’s skeleton was either decomposed in lime or acidic soil, or was eaten out by termites.

Mayor wants vote on separate state
Townsville Mayor Tony Mooney is heading an appeal to the State Government to make North Queensland a separate state, bordered by Sarina in the south up to the tip of Queensland in the north. Cr Mooney gave his support to the North Queensland Self Government League, whose members recently developed a letter to Premier Peter Beattie to call a referendum on the issue. Cairns Mayor Kevin Byrne said he would consider Cr Mooney’s proposal and agreed on a push towards greater autonomy for the North. “Cairns is further from Brisbane than Melbourne is from Brisbane and issues in the North are very different from those in the south,” Cr Byrne said.

Home values surge
Cairns property prices are predicted to continue rising for at least the next two years, despite theories the Sydney and Melbourne markets are due for a crash. Propety analyst Alan Midwood said population growth would increase the Far Northen market long after Brisbane house prices stopped rising. “Things in Cairns started to pick up in September last year and they are still going but there is quite a bit of catch up to do before we see the kind of plateau level the south-east will reach this year,” Mr Midwood said.