Took an overdue afternoon snooze and awoke to an LNP Press Release in the in-tray. Exciting times for Innisfail!!!!! It reads: Innisfail and the Cassowary Coast will get a brand new wharf courtesy of funding from Round 4 of the Newman LNP Government’s Royalties for the Regions program. LNP candidate for Mulgrave, Robyn Quick, welcomed the funding which would build a new $2.16 million wharf in the Innisfail Boat Harbour, on the Johnstone River. Mrs Quick said that the new wharf would provide safe facilities and better access for all fishermen, allowing anyone with a boat to tie up safely for loading and unloading equipment and would encourage cruise tourism providing easy access to town. “Over the past three years Royalties for the Regions has made solid progress in reversing Labor’s neglect of rural and regional Queenslanders,” Mrs Quick said. “The program is the centrepiece of our strong plan to unlock economic opportunities and grow jobs in regional Queensland, including in the Cassowary Coast region. “Labor has no plan to look after Queensland’s regional communities”. Mrs Quick said Premier Campbell Newman had today announced that a further $500 million over 4 years would be invested in the Royalties to the Regions program from the Strong Choices plan cementing the LNP’s commitment to regional Queensland.” Hinchinbrook MP, Andrew Cripps, said the old Innisfail wharf was closed in September 2013 because it was in poor condition and unsafe. Since then both commercial and recreational boaties have had to relocate to the Port of Mourilyan. “A new commercial wharf will mean those operators can move back to Innisfail and potentially provide opportunities for new commercial operations to start up,” he said. “This project will demolish the old 1940s wharf, and build a new commercial facility that will meet the needs of local commercial boat operators in the local area.” Mr Cripps said Innisfail Boat Harbour was a commercial fishing port servicing vessels operating in the Coral Sea up to Torres Strait and made an important contribution to the local economy. In addition to the commercial fleet, the harbour was a base for game fishing boats, permanently moored and visiting vessels. Mayor of the Cassowary Coast Regional Council, Bill Shannon said council was happy to contribute $900,000 to this exciting project. “We have received funding over the years with the natural disasters we have experienced, so to obtain this funding is very good news for our region,” Cr Shannon said. “In a river town like Innisfail with a significant fishing and tourism industry it’s critical to have a town wharf. The existing wharf was unsafe and had reached the end of its life and therefore had to be closed, which has had a big impact on our community, particularly the commercial and recreational boaties. “We have been putting money aside for some time towards a new wharf which hasn’t been easy, so to receive funding through the Royalties for the Regions program is fantastic news. “This funding means that we are now able to start work on the new wharf immediately, years ahead of what we could have achieved on our own.”
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 08:40:02 +0000
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