Douglas’s role as a social benefactor to its community has its strong areas and it’s weaker areas. Some say Cairns record suggests there is some ground to make up, in its support of community services as well. One of the features that both needs continual support in Douglas and which needs deeper extension to the elderly or unwell of Cairns, is the HACC program, for which the DSC has this to say, “The Douglas Shire Council HACC Home Maintenance Services was established in early 1996 following a successful funding application to the State Government. Services provided assist HACC eligible people to maintain their own homes, gardens & yards in functional safety & provide them with an adequate level of security.”

The key components of the program are:

• the maintenance of the surrounds of a person’s home by lawn mowing;
• minor modifications (eg. Installation of handrails, grab rails in toilets/bathrooms, handheld showers & wheelchair ramps).

These services need deeper deployment all throughout Palm Cove and Clifton Beach where needed. Beyond the care of the backyard, Douglas is badly short of infrastructure for the elderly and for years, the DSC in combination with terrific community action groups have been lobbying and organising land and contracts for aged care beds in Mossman and land has been put aside alongside the old Mossman Multi Purpose Health site for an aged care facility that would put to an end to the sad need for families to be ripped apart, as the needed travel to intense care facilities for aged Douglas residents means, the old and infirm are moved away from their families to Cairns, at the very time when they need to be with their family, or at least, not miles away. Amalgamation must not put a spanner in many years work, where in late 2007, the prospect of finally getting the high care beds we need is so close. One of my main aims ahead is to get the aged care facility in Mossman built and operational over the next term.

The Douglas Shire has for too long neglected its engagement of youth from mid teens onwards. As a dad to Sam 19 and Francesca 18, we have a lot to answer for in lack of things to do for our community members in this age group. The failings in public transport are costing our kids generally around $25-$30 for a one way bus ticket to see a $12 film in Cairns. It’s simply not fair. Repeated attempts to create a zoning in Douglas Shire that would promote rather than deter the construction of cinemas in Douglas has, despite faint council support, not been enacted by the DSC and maybe under the new CRC, Douglas will finally get some action towards providing cinema viewing for teens (and all the rest of us who miss out on cinematic experience in Douglas).

The failing of public transport also impacts the viability of Douglas students studying at JCU. Whilst there is State subsidized bus service between Douglas for all the kids at TAS, St Monica, St Augustine’s, Cairns High etc, there is regrettably nothing to help Uni students make the trip affordable so Douglas Uni students often have to either move out of home to Cairns or do the 750 km weekly round trip to JCU in their own car. And JCU wonder why its numbers are not strong, when most Uni students in Douglas simply do the survival math’s, and end up moving interstate for a university education. This lack of affordable and local’s orientated public transport also takes its toll on the drink driving figures.
With older teenagers being as they have been since time and memorial, it’s just unreasonable to expect them to be in bed by 9pm at times, for example, when schoolies approaches. Without many facilities for these kids, it is natural that the big suburban or beach side gathering will happen. I argue that more balance and tolerance is needed towards our elder kids and that their get-togethers should not be handled as though we are a police state and our kids are a dissident Burmese political party.
I’ve argued, for example, that is it’s better for our kids to be sitting together around a beach BBQ at night than trawling empty shopping centers.
Whilst sure, many parties get out of hand, does this mean all other parties need heavy handed treatment?
I was active, for example, trying to reshape the Carnivale agenda to avoid the annual herding of our kids by the authorities, when they all gathered near the Esplanade to do what kids do (especially when the parents were doing the same in town). The recent organisation of Carnivale finally got on top of its earlier failings, with leadership from the kids themselves…all we parents needed to do, was ask the kids what they themselves would like…no rocket science, just communication and organisation. And this communication and organization needs to be on the agenda in Division 10.
In Mossman, the DSC and the Mossman High School are more than just neighbors and in the transition, its is really important that the relation between schools and the old DSC does not leave the schools disenfranchised.
Our school kids have been intertwined in many former DSC functions and this relationship must continue on a strong ongoing basis, whether through ANZAC day, in final grade’s socio-political exchange, or the luncheons for the elderly etc. The glue that keeps our small communities together certainly oozed between the DSC and the shire schools. I enjoyed pushing for Council support that released the $25,000 debt held by Port Kids Inc in October 2007, so their project could continue without excessive encumbrance.

CONTACT ROD DAVIS: vote@roddavis.org

MOBILE: 0418 235561 or HOME: 0740 994434

MAIL: PO BOX 714, Port Douglas, 4877.