“The media have a very poor understanding of geography when it comes to Queensland. If it is not in the South East corner, then it must be the Far North. That can encompass a mass of area,” she said.

Her remarks follow the devastation suffered in Townsville and the perception Port Douglas also suffered from the heavy rains.

“If I heard on the news that Sydney had had very bad hail storms; temperatures in the 40s; and gale force winds, I would not associate that with Canberra, which is only about 270km from Sydney.
“However, when it comes to Queensland, the media have a very poor understanding of geography,” said Ross.
 

This false perception has not helped the town’s retailers with some reporting they have not had a sale in six to seven days.

Occupancy is also down and tourism generally has suffered. Admittedly, this is a quieter time, but many have not known it to be this slow in years.

In terms of assisting Townsville, Ross said we should think of how we can support Townsville. “As a business community, what can we do? What could we as a community donate, what would help them?

“Perhaps we should touch base with the Townsville Chamber of Commerce and ask.

To the rest of the country, we are still here, open for business and looking forward to more positive times,” she said.

Ironically, the next Chamber breakfast – 14 March at 7:30am at the Combined Club – is about resilience. “The next chamber breakfast will be about Resilience. How can we be more resilient, what can we do?

To start we need to be more optimistic. We need to find ways to strengthen and maintain our resourcefulness.”

“We need to be more thankful,” said Ross.