It is always good to get into the ear of the Premier and I had several opportunities to do that during her visit to Cairns from 23 to 26 February. I raised with her the importance of having the disaster area declarations extended to the Babinda area to enable assistance to the, perhaps, 15 banana farmers whose crops have been wiped out by Yasi.

We also discussed the progress with the Port Douglas Waterfront plan and the lagoon feasibility, and ways by which we may be able to fund the construction.

Tourism leaders were consistent in validating the damage that 8 weeks of floods and cyclones have done to the perception of our region by both domestic and international tourists.We're all trying hard to get the word out there that the Cairns region is well and truly open for business and the additional half a million dollars from the state government, on top of the $10M federal and state funds previously announced, will mean that there will be a targeted campaign to bring visitors from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.