The Great Barrier Reef is absolutely spectacular! Tourism needs a boost to catch up and show off one of Australia’s greatest assets, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. Tourism is critical for our economy in FNQ But clearly we need to adjust how we promote it in order to get much better results. We need to face up to the fact that it’s not simply the impact of the GFC still that’s to blame for our often floundering island resorts and adjacent coastal towns.
Many of our tourism competitors are thriving and we are falling further behind.
Recent figures show FNQ was down about 7% in tourism income and the SE corner was Up 14% in the same quarter.
Two factors to this.
• We must put an immediate stop to the lies being peddled that the Great Barrier Reef is dead. I have recently called for a full and thorough forensic audit of all Tax payer money being spent on the reef to date to put an end to the outrageous lies which are killing our tourism industry by trashing the reputation of the reef on the
world wide stage.
• We need to take a fresh look at our marketing budget and strategy.
2. Enhancing the Reef.
Constructing onshore and then placing artificial reefs in the deep water between the coast and the GBR is a great way to help the reef. I am proposing 50 initially in the 300nm ( 550kms) from Townsville to Cooktown as a pilot program for research.
Artificial reefs provide a perfect platform where corals can grow, they became a fantastic fish habitat and very quickly develop into a whole new ecosystem of their own providing a positive benefit to the environment.
An added bonus is they also become a close recreational fishing location and relieve some fishing pressure from the reef itself.
Statistics clearly show that the reef is not under any pressure from fishing at this time.
However, introducing a good number of artificial reefs is a real win win all round. Coral can grow, fish can aggregate, fisherman don’t have to travel as far and researchers can study them from their inception.
“ We all Love the Great Barrier Reef, I’ve personally spent over 2500 days out there. I’m absolutely passionate about making sure we get management of the reef right. I’ve worked in every different sector of our marine industries. I have a thorough and well-balanced view of our marine environment. I’ve had this concept in mind for a long time and I believe it will yield a great return for science and the community” says McCarthy.
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