Speaking alongside Aquis Aware spokesperson Mark Buttrose at an information session in Cairns at about 1:30pm this afternoon, Mr Xenophon said the social problems of gambling could outweigh possible economic benefits to the region.

“To say that gambling is going to be an economic saviour for a community is really chasing fool’s gold - all I ask is that the people of Cairns look at this proposal very, very carefully, because it will have the effect of skyrocketing gambling rates and addiction, and also having an impact on small to medium businesses in Cairns,” Mr Xenophon said. 

“The question is who will end up paying for it in end - the question that needs to be posed is will this make more difficult for the people and small businesses because you’ll have this massive new development almost like a Venus flytrap sucking away the development dollars from small and medium businesses and also having a very significant social impact.”

However Cairns Chamber of Commerce head Deb Hancock said the benefits of Aquis would vastly outweigh the drawbacks.

“We’re talking about 26,000 jobs from this development in total - and right now we have one of the highest unemployment rates in Australia,” Ms Hancock said. 

“A recent HSB report indicated that the number of Chinese tourists that are going to be travelling per annum within five years time is 400 million people, given that fact, Aquis or no Aquis we are going to be able to come to Cairns - we are actually talking about the generation of an entirely new market that is not currently seen in Cairns.

“When we’re talking about these job numbers for Aquis, that is only for this project - it’s not talking about the growth of all the wonderful businesses that we have here right now, the export opportunities, the connections made for investment. 

“I would most definitely argue that the benefits outweigh the negatives - and I can give complete assurances that the Cairns business community wants this to happen.”

While Mr Xenophon said that the community people might approve of Aquis more if the gambling aspects of the mega-resort’s were removed,  Ms Ms Hancock said that it was unlikely .

“The casino component is the basis of the feasibility and commercial viabilty of this project so I would expect, without speaking on behalf of others, that it would be non-negotiable.”