More Tourism and Ships for QLD Coast and Reef

Ships have always played a big role for transport and tourism across the coast of Australia, but due to its treacherous nature the shipping routes have not been too congested. This situation may well change if a pilot program succeeds to make the coast more accessible.

Foreign vessels arriving on the Gold Coast will benefit from a dedicated boarding station as part of a 12 months’ pilot by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton said the pilot programme will provide inwards and outwards clearance for vessels and their crew and may encourage additional vessel traffic to the area.

Boarding station for ships and boats

The boarding station will be active from 1 July this year until 30 June 2018, which will allow to support the 2018 Commonwealth Games and to assess the potential for a permanent boarding station in the future, Mr Dutton said.

Australian Border Force and Biosecurity officers will clear foreign vessels of less than 50 metres length at the boarding station, which will be located at the Southport Yacht Club.

By establishing a boarding station on the Gold Coast, the Government is expanding border protection coverage of south east Queensland and supporting local marine and tourism industries.

Coup for the Gold Coast City

Federal Member for Moncrieff and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo said this is a coup for the city.

This is yet another way we're growing our city's booming tourism industry by enticing more domestic and international tourists to the Gold Coast, including superyachts, Mr Ciobo said.

Having the ability to welcome these vessels to Southport Yacht Club rather than having to go into Moreton Bay means more people visiting the city, more growth in our local economy and more jobs in our thriving tourism industry.

Commonwealth Games benefit

We've worked together with the local government and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation to deliver a fantastic outcome for our city.

The Coalition Government has invested more than $200 million into delivering a bigger and better Commonwealth Games which, in turn, has transformed our city into a world-class destination.

Federal Member for Fadden Stuart Robert said the boarding station is a vote of confidence for the Gold Coast.

This is one more step in building the Gold Coast into one of the world's great superyacht destinations and another example of the LNP delivering for the Gold Coast, Mr Robert said.

Stakeholders involved include Gold Coast City Mayor Tom Tate, Chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation the Hon Peter Beattie (previous QLD Premier) and boating industry representatives.

No doubt other local MP’s like Karen Andrews would also be enthusiastic to comment about the prospect of more coastal traffic and tourism; however, we have been unable to contact her or the others at the time of putting this article together.

A permanent decision 

At the completion of the pilot, an assessment will be made as to the future viability of a permanent boarding station. In the region, similar clearance facilities exist in Brisbane, Bundaberg and Coffs Harbour. Taken together they could make a difference as there now is the possibility of building tourist businesses around these destinations that are reachable, in-between legs, by motor cruisers generally within 24 hours given good speed and conditions.

Considering that the global tourist attraction of the Great Barrier Reef is now worth $56 billion, according to new modelling released from Deloitte Access Economics recently, we can only guess what its value may be once more ports are accessible with clearance facilities.

What are your thoughts on accessibility, and what may be the limit of tourism along the coast and reef?

  Journalist in the press gallery  

Roger Hausmann 

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Addr: S118, Press Gallery,

Level 2 Parliament House, ACT

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