Cairns Regional Council has called on the Federal Government to undertake an assessment of the economic impact of the proposed Commonwealth Marine Parks Network.

Council lodged its submission in response to the proposal on Tuesday, saying there is a need to further investigate the potential impacts on the broader Far North Queensland community.

“The Federal Government must do this comprehensive assessment and make the results available to the FNQ community to facilitate an informed public debate,” Mayor Bob Manning said.

“Council will not support the proclamation until this is achieved.”

Council engaged economist Cummings Research to undertake a preliminary assessment of the impacts locally.

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“Cummings Research has engaged with the local industry to prepare an assessment that included both upstream and downstream industries,” Cr Manning said.

“It finds that the economic impact of the proclamation could be as much as $1 billion.

“The Federal Government has estimated that, across the region – including Weipa and the Gulf – the impact would be just $5.86 million a year but to properly address the impact of the proclamation, consideration must be given to the loss of future earnings and to the effects on service industries ” Cr Manning said.

But the Australian Conservation Group says Cairns Regional Council's "exaggerated claims" about how a Coral Sea Marine Reserve will impact on the local economy has undermined the council’s credibility on the issue.

ACF Healthy Oceans Campaigner Chris Smyth said the Cummings Research report contained numerous errors and inaccurate assertions.

“In a comprehensive report the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) found that commercial fishing makes up only 2 per cent of the Cairns economy and the city will be able to adjust. 

“The displaced gross value of fishing product is expected to be little different from annual variations in catches and prices," Mr Smyth said.
 
The Australian Conservation Foundation acknowledged there will be short-term economic effects in Cairns that will be felt by some individuals and businesses.

“The government has committed up to $100 million nationally to help commercial fishers and their onshore processing operations adjust to the national reserve network, including the Coral Sea Marine Reserve," Mr Smyth said.

“The Coral Sea Marine Reserve will bring exciting new economic opportunities to Cairns, especially for the tourism industry.

“Cairns could become a centre for managing the marine reserves, which would see some of the more than $50 million national management budget spent in and flow through the Cairns economy over the next few years.

“Unfortunately the Cairns City Council has adopted an extreme position against the creation of the Coral Sea Marine Reserve and sought to justify its stance with a report that is riddled with errors,” Mr Smyth said. 

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