A New Deal for Cairns –

The Relief, Recovery & Reform Plan

 

ORIGIN OF THE NEW DEAL

The Relief, Recovery & Reform plan referred to as ‘The New Deal’ is a collaboration of business and community leaders of Cairns, presented for the consideration of the State and Federal governments in October 2009 in response to the extreme conditions which led to Far North Queensland recording the highest unemployment rate in the country, as at the end of September 2009.

A call to action by Advance Cairns was the catalyst for local business and community leaders including Cairns Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Cairns Regional Council, to join forces to develop a plan for economic recovery. The sense of urgency by this group to take swift and decisive action arose from the knowledge that conditions were likely to worsen before they improved.

EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

The effects of the Global Financial Crisis crippled key economic contributors to the Far North, including: 

* Tourism – With such a high dependence on tourism, a reduction in international tourism visitation had a heavy impact on the region’s economy;

* The construction industry suffered significantly with the collapse of two of the region’s top three construction firms’

* Regional mining activity all but ground to a halt;

* Retail and car sales were also hard hit;  

* The rising Australian dollar; and

* A very real risk that unemployment would continue to climb in Far North Queensland.

Under these exceptional economic circumstances, the New Deal team called upon the State and Federal governments to listen to their plea and respond positively and urgently to their proposed initiatives, requesting a commitment from all levels of government to continue to work with them on developing a realistic and achievable ongoing economic recovery plan to re-establish the region as a Northern Queensland economic powerhouse.

THE PROPOSED INITIATIVES

Areas in which Government assistance was sought to deliver Relief, Recovery and Reform were provided below along with key points under each aspect to facilitate discussion.

The Relief actions were designed to pump-prime the region’s economy with realistic solutions that will keep or attract cash into the region, will have a real and immediate impact, and get out-of-work people from tourism, mining and construction back to work and hopefully to stay in the region until the economic rebound.

  • Targeted assistance for struggling small businesses (eg. payroll tax relief, interest free deferral of PAYG and GST contributions, annual leave incentives).
  • Creation of jobs and retention of workers in the region by the immediate funding of ‘shovel-ready’ projects from across the region.
  • Reallocation and better prioritisation of the balance of the stimulus package funds.

The Recovery component was based on seizing current opportunities and turning them into medium and longer- term wins, with real results that would drive ongoing investment and prosperity in the region.

  • Assistance in positioning Cairns as the gateway to PNG and becoming the business service hub for that region (including investigating direct linkages). Assist FNQ to seize opportunities arising from the major projects planned in PNG and incentivising establishment of service offices (eg. procurement departments) in Cairns.
  • Accelerating planning approvals process and bringing forward spending on committed projects (eg. schools, housing developments, roads, hospitals etc).
  • Assistance to reduce the dependence on international leisure tourism and increasing business, sports, cultural and health tourism.
  • Rebuilding confidence by demonstrating a commitment to our signature infrastructure project: Cairns Cultural Precinct

The Reform component comprised long sought-after policy changes designed to remove impediments to the regions’ competitiveness and allowing it to drive and take advantage of some of its natural competitive advantages.

  • Attention to aviation concerns, specifically airline policies and airport charges, as well as assistance in negotiations with carriers on routes and maintenance lines.
  • Recognition of the critical mass of Tropical Expertise in FNQ and assisting businesses here to access contracts that employ their tropical knowledge and skills in developing nations.
  • Literally facilitating economic diversification by decentralising Government agencies, and establishing regional branches or increasing staff base/service delivery in FNQ (eg. Austrade).
  • Review of sea port infrastructure and regulations to enhance the region’s ability to capitalise on export opportunities.

THE ASK TO GOVERNMENT

Disaster Recovery

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the situation being faced in the Cairns region was as much a crisis as is a major cyclone, bushfire or flood, and needs the same decisive and generous response from Governments as would follow those natural events. We need disaster recovery.

Government ‘Go To’ Contacts

Having a senior, experienced point of contact ‘on the inside’ would assist us to develop an understanding of the parameters we need to work within when developing our economic recovery strategies.

We asked that Government nominate the appropriate ‘go to’ people within State and Federal departments (particularly Treasury), who could work with the New Deal team to formulate practical and achievable Relief, Recovery & Reform solutions.

Maximising Use of Existing Resources

We sought the Government’s guidance to identify and gain access to programs that are relevant to this region, to effectively leverage funding available for the greatest possible impact. Futhermore, we asked if any programs or projects that were already committed could be fast tracked and spending brought forward to stimulate our regional economy.

Consideration of Shovel-Ready Projects

We developed a list of projects which would assist in employing locals, ensuring that the regions’ trades-people and skilled workers stay in the region, and would also rebuild confidence across Far North Queensland. The diverse list of short-term assistance projects and long-term aspirational projects were categorised according to ability to commence works, and capacity to create jobs and utilise skills.

The pre-requisities for the short term projects were:

  • Be able to commence immediately and have the ability to work through the wet season;
  • Be highly labour intensive, centered on local implementation and comprise a range of skills levels;  
  • They must have strong community support.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

To inquire as to the status of the above Relief, Recovery and Reform strategies or to make us aware of additional issues, please contact:

Advance Cairns

Ph: 07 4080 2900

Email: admin@advancecairns.com

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