In an exclusive interview with The Newsport, incumbent MP for Leichhardt Warren Entsch outlined his “wishlist” of priorities for the Douglas region.

MOSSMAN BOTANICAL GARDENS

“I’ve been particularly focused on is the Mossman Botanical Gardens concept. I think that it’s going to create broader opportunities for this entire region, and has the potential to be a world-class facility.”

PORT DOUGLAS WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT

“I would’ve liked to have some finished submissions, particularly in relation to the boardwalk or the lagoon, but in both cases they seem to have been a little bit sidetracked with the de-amalgamation process, so I’ve had nothing bankable that I could go on. I’m not even sure that they’ve finalised where they want to put it, let alone what the costs are. That’s been a disappointment.”

SMALL BUSINESS

“From a small business perspective, we’ve really got to get out of their faces. I think business up here has done it so tough for so long. We’ve seen a lot of failings of businesses, we’ve seen a lot of issues in relation to unemployment, so one of the policy areas that I’m particularly focused on is the commitment that we’ve made to have dedicated sitting periods in Canberra where we do nothing but rescind legislation that significantly increases the cost of doing business.

“If we can start to get rid of those imposts and allow businesses to return to profitability, that in many ways will take care of our unemployment, because the companies will start employing people again. And that helps the Australian government deal with the debt problems, because it expands the cake and in doing so, gives us the largest source of revenue of any government, which is personal income tax. So profitability and business is important. [And cutting] red tape, green tape and the carbon tax.”

TROPICAL CAMPUS FOR SPORT

“I’ve [also] been pushing [for the region to become] a tropical campus for the Australian Institute of Sport - another reason for people to come when our tourism season is in its troughs – summertime. If we can start getting squads from all over the world coming into our region and training, it’s going to have a huge impact on the profitability of our main state business: tourism.

“We’ve got something like 26,000 hotel rooms in our region, and a huge capacity to be able to accommodate [the athletic squads] in the summertime. Our restaurants and everything else that support these hotels - this of course is their downtime. So there’s a great opportunity there, and it’s another one of my babies – I’ve been pushing it for some time.

“The impacts are not just Cairns focused, it focuses up here in this region. We already do training up here for AFL, and right through the Tablelands with endurance tracks for mountain bikers and things like that. So that’s another very significant area.”

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

“Areas within industrial relations that need to be re-visited, and we’re looking at that. One of the interesting things is Fair Work Australia, where we’ve said a lot of the flexibility in business is already within the Fair Work Australia Act legislation, which was introduced by this Government. But unfortunately, [the Labor Government has] only cherry-picked the ones they want, and a lot of [the legislation] is still sitting there. So we bring that in, and that certainly deals with issues of flexibility and things like that.”

PORT DOUGLAS FISHING INDUSTRY

“Providing an opportunity to re-open our fishing industry. They’ve continued to [be] shut them down with the Marine Parks system. However, I don’t have a problem with the marine park boundaries; what we need to do is have a look at the use. Have it for multiple use based exclusively on sustainability, so if it’s not sustainable, you don’t do it.

“I remember Port Douglas. We still see it a little bit with the banana prawn trawler coming in to the marina on the weekends, but the resource that is under-utilised out there is phenomenal.

“Port Douglas, by the nature of where it is and what it was, has huge potential to come back to some of those hey days in relation to local fishing, which is great for tourists to go and buy more than just a few prawns off one boat, and also for fishing experiences out there, for recreational, sports and commercial.

“As long as it’s totally sustainable, and we consider all of the user groups, I think it’s something we need to return to.”