Fighting for the Far North Ahead of the Federal Election

A delegation of more than 25 business leaders from Tropical North Queensland will head to Parliament House in Canberra next week advocating for key priorities essential to unlocking the region’s potential. The focus areas include infrastructure investment, health, defence, water security, and regional connectivity.

Led by Advance Cairns, the Cairns Chamber of Commerce, and Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), the delegation will be joined by Cairns Regional Council Mayor Amy Eden and other regional local government representatives. Together, they will meet with senior representatives from the Australian Government, Opposition, and crossbench members to highlight the need for funding to support Australia’s most internationally connected region.

The delegation will advocate for a number of key priorities including:

• Increase funding for the Cairns Water Security – Stage 1 Project: An additional $87.5 million, bringing the federal commitment to $195 million.
• Invest $58 million in Cairns Airport’s Eastern Aviation Precinct: This includes a state-of-the-art Aviation Maintenance Training Facility, a 10,000m² hangar, and an Australian-first flight simulator for the Cessna Caravan aircraft.
• Extend the International Tourism Recovery Program: $5 million annually to support international arrivals into Cairns, with marketing programs for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef led by TTNQ.
• Drive Tropical North Queensland’s visitor economy: Extension of the International Tourism Recovery Program with $5 million annually to support international arrivals into Cairns and dispersing throughout Australia, through a marketing program for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef led by TTNQ; and an expansion of the PACER program to support thousands of school students to experience the Great Barrier Reef first-hand.
• Expand medical education in Cairns: Award James Cook University 80 Commonwealth Supported Places for its Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, phased from 2025-2027, with the majority based in Cairns.
• Expand Cairns’ educational offering: 80 Commonwealth Supported Places for James Cook University’s Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, phased from 2025-27, with the majority based in Cairns; and additional funding to deliver the new Cairns CQUniversity CBD Campus to its original scope.
• Establish a core operational Office of the Pacific presence in Cairns: Enhance cultural and business engagement while improving service delivery for the region.
• Prioritise critical road infrastructure: Deliver a resilient all-weather road network across Far North Queensland, ensuring continued regional economic development through a $140 million investment to seal and improve the Gulf section of the Savannah Way; $30 million to complete the sealing of the alternative inland route to the Bruce Highway; funding to improve access to the Tablelands, including a request to extend the National Highway; and accelerated delivery of works to shore up access between Cairns and its northern beaches.
• Review the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold: Address workforce shortages by ensuring businesses in Far North Queensland can access the skilled and semi-skilled workers needed to support economic growth.
• Partner on student accommodation initiatives: Work with the Queensland Government to create purpose-built accommodation through James Cook University to relieve pressure on the local housing market.
• Create a place-based partnership model: Develop a trilateral partnership between the Commonwealth, State, and Regional Organisations of Councils for comprehensive regional economic and infrastructure planning.
• Build a more climate resilient future for Tropical North Queensland: Develop a trilateral partnership to deliver a comprehensive approach to land-use and infrastructure planning; create and maintain a centralised dataset to provide consumers and local governments with consolidated information surrounding historical and future exposure to natural disasters, mitigating risk and applying downward pressure on insurance premiums; and support to develop Australia’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel industry.
• Support Defence capacity and capability: Upgrade leasehold infrastructure within the city’s major shipyards to support smaller tonnage vessels ahead of the Common User Facility’s completion; and support industry through the provision of long-term continuous sustainment programs by basing and sustaining additional Defence vessels in Cairns.

The delegation will undertake more than 30 meetings and attend milestone events including the delivery of the Minister for Northern Australia’s annual statement to Parliament and engagement with a range of influential stakeholders.  It will take place during the second last parliamentary sitting week of 2024 from November 19 to 21. 

The Federal election must take place by 17 May 2025.

Quotes attributed to Advance Cairns Chief Executive Officer Jacinta Reddan

“This delegation is a powerful demonstration of the strength in our regional collaboration.  Our regional proximity to the Asia Pacific is a core strength and the nation’s pivot to the North further underpins the major national role we play.

“With the Federal election approaching, this is a valuable opportunity to spotlight these critical priorities that are crucial for the continued growth and resilience of our region.  We aim to raise awareness of the economic diversity of the region, of our opportunities for growth and of ways to unblock critical barriers to realising our potential.”

Quotes attributed to the Cairns Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Patricia O’Neill

“Our region’s businesses urgently need the Federal Government’s support to review and renew the skilled Migration Agreement currently available across Far North Queensland. An extremely tight labour market is holding back economic growth across key industries, even as our region continues to diversify.

“This delegation is timely, given that we’re on the brink of our extreme weather season. We need clarity on the reinsurance pool review to address the rising costs of doing business and protect our community’s economic resilience.”

Quotes attributed to Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen said the Federal Government’s International Tourism Recovery Program needed to be extended beyond June 2025 to continue to support the expanded aviation services established over the past two years.

“Utilising the $15 million International Tourism Recovery Program funding, TTNQ has led a global publicity push worth over $100M including the world-first Guardian of the Reef program to elevate the importance of visiting the Great Barrier Reef to help conserve it,” he said.

“The international campaigns led by TTNQ have enticed more than 116,000 international visitors to travel to the region which will generate $132 million in additional visitor expenditure in just the first eight months of the program. We need to keep this momentum going.  

“Following the success of the Queensland Government Schools Subsidy for the Great Barrier Reef, the industry would also like to see an extension of the existing Parliament and Civics Education Rebate to allow schools to include a visit to the Great Barrier Reef.

“This will support tourism jobs on the Great Barrier Reef as well conservation efforts and may inspire the next generation of climate and marine scientists with ideas that could lead the world.”

– Ends –

For further media comment and images:

Namassana Holland-Beard
Advance Cairns, Marketing & Communications Manager
E: marketing@advancecairns.com

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