The Jewel: Division 10, Clifton, Palm Cove & Douglas

Port Douglas - 4 Miles Beach The northern division 10 of the new Cairns Regional Council embodies Clifton Beach and Palm Cove, running up the coast to include all of the 2007 Douglas Shire. This division includes huge tracks of land in the Daintree catchments, as well the islands of Snapper, Low, Double, Green and Fitzroy. It includes those living on dirt floors at China Camp, and those living on marble floors, along the beachfront. It includes the traditional Yalanji communities living now at centers in Mossman, Wangetti, Degarra, and Buru, with the northern boundary being the Bloomfield River, just this side of Wujal Wujal. More than 65% of this Division 10 is subject to a new ILUA, an Indigenous Land Use Agreement, finalized in 2007.
This region arguably contains Australia’s most valuable biological assets, and by some marvelous twist of nature, some of the oldest and most complex rainforests on earth are included in this one new division of the new CRC, Cairns Regional Council. Whilst sea levels rose and fell, whilst ice ages came and went, somehow, the ancient forests containing a big majority of the world’s oldest flowering plants survived in Division 10, and from March 16 2008, this immensely valuable heirloom has been inherited by the governors of Cairns. This privilege brings with it immense responsibility, both to us, the inhabitants and the entire world, where the immense importance of the Daintree’s legacy has been identified by the majority of the worlds leading botanists.
But this area does not only contain the nations (or the world’s) most important botany, but it also contains, between Palm Cove and Douglas, arguably the country’s best tourism products, through the accommodation sectors, the food and beverage sector, including the marine and terrestrial tour sector. It’s probably the most awarded tourism area in Australia.
It’s a beautiful place to live. It’s full of adventure, beauty and diversity. The community that makes this amazing area is equally full of adventure, beauty and diversity.
The majority of us, with our 8600 votes, live within 1200 metres of the beach or a river accessing the beach. The size of the financial turnover in this one CRC division is indeed massive, with the tourism sector of what will be the former Douglas Shire estimated to be worth around $1.2 billion dollars annually. Combined with Palm Cove this is prime-time-tourism-central.
The traditional cane farming sector leads the industry in terms of sustainability, resilience and diversity with turnovers of over $30 million.
The regions biggest marine tourism sector is based in this one division, carrying thousands of passengers daily. If lifestyle and retirement living is a business, this division is brimming with the regions most innovative and prosperous lifestyle sector.
As a candidate for this division, the privilege of representing what is in my opinion the nation’s most prestigious area is, well, great. And with this privilege comes heavy responsibility and the job of providing leadership to this division needs a person who is up for the workload, who is across the issues and who can represent and include a huge range of interests. So this web site spells out how Rod Davis would go about leading this division, within a much bigger Cairns Regional Council.