“When in Port Douglas you’ve got to do what Port Douglas does and when I’m in the Aboriginal communities I’m there talking about the issues that they’re interested in and what impacts them, but that comes only from experience.

“We’ve got 14 individual councils here, we’ve got half the coastline of Queensland,  half the Barrier Reef, an international border, a massive agricultural sector and then there’s mining and tourism and different cultural components, but I just see that as part of the richness of it. It’s a wonderful seat but it is a lot of work,’’ Mr Kempton added.

And while he and the David Crisafulli led LNP Government takes power of Queensland for the first time in almost a decade set about “catching up on the big four crisis’’ areas of crime, cost of living, housing and health, Mr Kempton says his eyes are not going to be lifted from the important issued across Douglas Shire.

“First and foremost is the future of not just the Mossman Mill but the whole Mossman and Douglas region because for every dollar and job lost in the mill, the multiplier effect is four times in the community and that is really going to hurt,’’ he said.

“So we need to ensure there is a proper support process around the entire economical community so that in a year or two we know the direction.

“The challenge for me is to get that balance of work for the mill and the growers and the council and find a path forward for the next 10 or 20 years. We can’t just keep pouring money into something that’s not going to work.’’

He named big infrastructure needs of roads and an ongoing “water situation” for the Douglas Shire, the Daintree River Ferry and roads north of it as key issues he also must tackle promptly.

He confirmed it is a “guarantee’’ the LNP will support next year’s cane crop to be taken off and transported to Mulgrove.

“We’ve put another $6 million up for anyone that wants to invest in that mill for either juicing, molasses or a full crush and there’s another $500,000 to go to the growers to ensure that a lot of these options have the integrity they need and the guarantee for them to go into the future,’’ he added.

Other wins for Douglas from Kempton and the LNP victory in the October 26 election is the delivery of 10 AirBridge Resilient Network Infrastructure (ARNI) units into the region for emergency communications.

“The ARNI units are an amazing piece of technology. We’re going to place 10 of these self-contained, almost bomb proof, trailers at strategic locations along the coast so when there’s a flood event or cyclone, flick the switch and you’ve got instant connectivity… so we’ve got people being able to talk to loved ones, we’ve got connections for disaster management and police for essential services,’’ he said.