JUNGLE DRUM: Is the new guard up to the job?

LAWRENCE MASON COLUMN

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The Daintree River Ferry Crossing. Picture: Supplied

Last weekend saw a change of government, and while not unexpected, it did catch a few people off guard. Especially the ‘Old Guard’! For the Jungle, there will be a few positives.

The Daintree Renewable Microgrid:
Hopefully this worthwhile project, now fully approved, that has been languishing under Labor will now get
the support it deserves. The Albanese Federal Government seems to have abandoned it, but hopefully the
Crisafulli State Government will see it for the worthwhile project that it is. Renewable energy via a grid you
can sell back into is just a no brainer, and it is one of life’s puzzles that so many carry on behind the scenes
to kill it off. Killing their own reputations in the process.
De-maining Cape Tribulation Road:
While I do support this, having seen how slowly TMR is progressing with the Cook Highway and replacing
Kuranda Bridge, I am a touch wary. However, the road here is clearly well outside the resources a small
local council can muster, and while there has been a herculean effort by the staff, to get our road fixed, I
think such an important road is probably best off in TMR hands.
The road is now in some of the poorest condition I have seen, literally smashing out cars to bits, and will
require some major works soon, even in areas where it was not damaged by the rain event. I doubt our
Council has the resources to achieve this.
The Daintree River Crossing:
As a main road, hopefully we can bring the crossing back to a point where it is a cost recovery operation,
not a money-making site. I won’t go into the bridge/ferry debate here, but someone is going to have to
come up with a non-diesel solution sooner rather than later. Perhaps an electric ferry could run off a
microgrid? Or is that too ‘newfangled’ for Douglas?

Productivity:
Watching on Facebook as a few fellas smashed out a community shed made me realise how far backwards
we have gone. I look at other projects that seem to take forever and wonder how a few ‘mature’ blokes
from Cow Bay can make stuff happen so fast. A Productivity Commission is way overdue and hopefully
once it has dealt with building industry it will go further. The yawning chasm of time it takes to get stuff
done is just ridiculous.
Forward Planning:
The recent disaster event showed just how unprepared we really are. Our previous “Resilient Coast’
planning was little more then a woke exercise in shoring up Global Warming beliefs. We need proper sea
access to coastal communities, reliable emergency comms, designated helipads, and processes for
medicines and other essentials to be delivered. The decision not to appoint a locally based Disaster Co-
ordinator was deplorable.
We must develop forward plans that address the inadequacies of or recent experience. Step one would be
a thorough independent review into the entire response.
The LNP has a lot to do. Let’s hope they are up to it.

*Lawrence Mason has lived at Cape Tribulation all his life, and has been involved in farming, timber and tourism. He is a former board member of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, founding Chair of Daintree Marketing Co-operative, and has been a member of both Alexandra Bay and Mossman State High School P&C. He is also a member of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce and has a keen interest in local issues.

  • The opinions and views in this column are those of the author and author only and do not reflect the Newsport editor or staff.