| Chamber News and Views : 3 April 2007 |
Welcome to our e-newsletter. We're looking forward to a number of key activities this year including our Chamber lunches with high profile speakers, Regional Business Tours, Chamber Golf Day and activities associated with our Resource & Industrial Taskforce.
Hon Stephen Robertson MP, Minister for Health was our guest speaker at our meeting on Tuesday 27 March who stressed a key point in managing the growing demand for health services will be through an expansion of access to health management services and better adoption of existing services.
Our Annual General Meeting following the March meeting saw the election of a new President, Jeremy Blockey from The 20/20 Group. Bob Norman, who was President from 2001 to 2007 is now the Past President. Other committee members are: Vice Presidents: Sim Hayward (Asian Foods) and Elmarie Gebler (WHK Greenwood); Committee Members: Robyn Van Rooye (CRGT) and Stewart Christie (ARUP). Profiles of the committee members can be found on our website
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Highlights..
High Profile Speakers... return to menu
Our first lunch for 2007 (February) presented John Anderson, founder of Contiki as our guest speaker. John spoke from the heart and gave an insight into his life journey and his key beliefs on operating a successful business. This lunch was well received and attracted numerous attendees including some non-members as guests. Feedback from attendees has been excellent!
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John Anderson
February 07
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The Chamber has access to a number of of high profile speakers this year as a result of a special media sponsorship agreement with The Cairns Post and we look forward to working with them this year to achieve the best possible outcome for both parties.
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Our April lunch meeting will see a presentation from ARUP on the FNQ Water Strategy. ARUP was commissioned to lead the development of the Strategy that will map out the provision of water resources for Cairns and the surrounding region up to 2050. Register online by 19 April.
Bernard Salt, Demographer and author of "The Big Shift" is confirmed for May this year and we expect a full house of attendees for this event. Numbers are strictly limited to 300 and this event is selling out fast. Register online by 11 May.
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Bernard Salt
May 07
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Our events calendar can be found on our new website at http://www.cairnschamber.com.auand click on the Events heading of the menu.
Membership Renewals return to menu
Invoices for membership renewals were emailed to members in December 2006 with a follow up statement sent in February 2007. Membership subscriptions are for 12 months for the period January to December.
Membership subscriptions overdue at the end of April will be automatically cancelled.
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Cairns Reportreturn to menu
Our annual Cairns Report publication was release d at our Annual General Meeting on 27 March. Members will each receive a copy in the mail in the next couple of weeks. Our Cairns Report publication features a detailed regional synopsis and Chamber members director. The report is a sought after publication by anyone with a keen interest in the local economy and is an ideal publication to send to potential investors. If you require additional copies of you have suggestions on future content, please contact the Chamber office.
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Meet a Committee Member return to menu
Profiles and photographs of the 2007 Chamber Management Committee can be found on our website here.
President
Mr Jeremy Blockey (The 20/20 Group Pty Ltd)
Jeremy is a director and co-founder of The 20/20 Group and has been working in economics related fields in North Queensland for 19 years, the last four years of which has been with The 20/20 Group.
Jeremy's experience includes the preparation of a range of economic studies and strategic business plans. Jeremy also has expertise in specialist areas including competition policy and pricing issues, experience in dealing with Government at all levels as well as government business enterprises, most particularly in the areas of relationships with government and policy settings. Other areas of interest are corporate governance and education.
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Jeremy joined the Chamber's Management Committee in 2004, serving the Chamber in various roles including as Chair of the Chamber's Resource & Industrial Taskforce, the Marketing sub-committee, and the Young Chamber sub-committee.
Jeremy has a Bachelor of Economics from Leicester University UK (1985), and is a Director of the Council of Trinity Anglican School. Whilst he doesn't feel he's had a total “mid-life crisis”, Jeremy has in the last couple of years taken up Masters swimming and has become a member of Ellis Beach Surf Life Saving Club along with the family!
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Jeremy Blockey
2007 President
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Changes in the Economy ...
Bruce Highway return to menu
A briefing from the Qld Transport Minister took place on Friday 9th March in Cairns. Mayors from Townsville to Cairns attended as well as Bob Norman and Sandy Whyte from the Chamber.
The briefing covered the works under the $348 million dollar allocation from the Australian Government for the upgrading of the Bruce Highway, which includes a large portion for flood immunity works. The meeting was very positive and addressed many of the concerns we have previously raised.
Bob Norman also attended a meeting in Townsville on 16th March, with Hon Craig Wallace, Premiers Representative in Nth Qld, to discuss funding for the Bruce Highway from Cairns to Sarina, from the Auslink 2 funding. More information on both of these meetings will be available soon.
Skills In Demand return to menu
A recent Skills in Demand Survey by DEWR was presented on 18th December 2006. The major points are:
* 758 employers were surveyed from 9 industry sectors
* 56% have recruited in the past 12 months with 9% of vacancies remaining unfilled
* 61% of recruiting companies had difficulty filling vacancies
* Reason for recruitment difficulty was mainly a lack of skill/training, a tight labour market and the nature of the work not well perceived
* In the Cairns City area (387 employers) the above figures were similar. On average for employers finding it difficult to fill positions they would receive 2.8 applications per position and then found that only 0.9 of applicants were suitable for the position. In some sectors these numbers were much worse. In the trades area they received 1.6 applications per position with only 0.6 of applicants being consider suitable.
The positions most difficult to fill in Cairns were:
Professionals & Associates
* Chefs,
* Health Professionals,
* Civil Engineers,
* Education Professionals,
* Business and Information Professionals
Tradespersons & Labourers
* Cleaners,
* Miscellaneous labourers & related workers,
* Electricians,
* Motor Mechanics,
* Metal Fitters & Machinists,
* Sheet Metal Tradespersons,
* Other Automotive Tradespersons,
* Construction Tradespersons
Clerical, Sales & Service Workers
* Hospitality Workers,
* Sales Assistants,
* Intermediate Clerical Workers,
* Miscellaneous Intermediate Service Workers
Survey results suggest:
o continuing demand for staff. 40% of employers surveyed will be employing additional staff in the next 12 months.
o 60% of employers surveyed would employ apprentices or trainees.
o Demand is being caused by continuing employment growth generally, resources sector & cyclone reconstruction
o Available labour supply is regarded as unsuitable or unwilling to work
o Difficulties in attracting workers to the region
There will be a further meeting with the agencies involved and DEWR to look at creating linkages with employers. The full report will be available at the end of January.
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Visit to Townsville return to menu
The Chamber Management Committee attended the 125th Anniversary lunch of the Townsville Chamber on Friday 23rd February 2007 and undertook inspections of infrastructure and facilities in Townsville on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd February 2007. The locations visited were:
• Sun Metals Zinc Refinery, • Townsville Port, • Australian Technical College, • Thuringowa Riverway, • JCU.
The visit included a dinner with the Townsville Chamber Management Committee on Thursday 22nd February. There are several areas of key infrastructure the 2 Chambers will be pursuing including the upgrades for the Bruce Highway, increased tertiary facilities and Base Load Power Supply.
| Jeremy Blockey & Stewart Christie from
Chamber Management Committee
with Geoff Brown from the
Incitec Storage Facility in
Townsville February 2007
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Guam return to menu
The Chamber Executive Officer undertook a fact finding visit to Guam on 4 – 8 December 2006. The visit included meetings with the Guam Chamber, Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Economic Development Agency and the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association. A full report on the visit is available from the Chamber office. Some $15 Billion is to be spent on Guam in the next 15 years. A number of actions to be taken have resulted from this visit.
Regional Migration return to menu
The Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration is conducting a review into the eligibility requirements and monitoring, enforcement and reporting arrangements for temporary business visas (457 visa program). The Chamber made a submission with the support of the local migration agents. A workshop to assist in developing the submission was held on 16th January 2007 with migration agents. The Chamber will take a delegation to Canberra to lobby the Minister for Immigration.
Yarrabah CDEP return to menu
The Yarrabah CDEP Committee has requested a representative of the Chamber to join their committee. There have been significant changes in recent months in the operation of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) throughout Australia. The Yarrabah committee is attempting to link with the business community of Cairns. Ross Rogers has been proposed as the Chamber’s representative. Ross will provide a regular report to the Chamber.
Centenary Committee return to menu
2009 is the Cairns Chamber of Commerce’s centennial year and the Chamber will start planning for this event this year. The Centenary activities would include a major event in 2009, as well as archiving records such as the Annual Reports. We have copies of the Annual Report from 1912.
Cyclone Larry Debriefing return to menu
Bob Norman attended a 2 day workshop on Cyclone Larry, what worked well and what didn’t. On the whole the recovery operation was well executed. However, there were three major concerns that Bob raised that are not being adequately addressed.
1. That the ICU Unit at the Cairns Base Hospital is on the ground floor and therefore susceptible to inundation from a tidal surge.
2. That mobile phone coverage be improved to allow all residents to report problems and to seek information.
3. Given that the Bruce Highway and other road accesses into Cairns may be cut during and following a cyclone, the Cairns Airport is a major part of any recovery effort and must have contingencies in place to mitigate against the damage of tidal surge.
To assist businesses in being better prepared for such an event, the Chamber will prepare a cyclone readiness checklist of businesses to be available for the Chamber website.
Marine Skills Training return to menu
The proponents of the Maritime Skills Training Centre in Cairns are finalising the business case for this project and have requested that Bob Norman, as President of the Chamber have his photo and supporting comments including in the document. This concept has been presented at a Chamber luncheon and generally has wide community support. Bob has agreed to this request.
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Higher Education return to menu
Bob Norman, Jeremy Blockey & Sandy Whyte met with the new Vice Chancellor of JCU, Professor Sandra Harding and with Scott Bowman, Pro Vice Chancellor (Cairns, International and Development). Professor Harding is adamant that JCU is a dual campus university (Cairns & Townsville).
We noted that the Chamber’s objectives for higher education are:
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Chamber Chamber of Commerce
and James Cook University
meeting in Townsville February 2007 |
* Best Tertiary Outcomes for Cairns/FNQ
* Deliver economic return into City from International Students
* Provision of courses and high calibre students that are suitable for local businesses
* High quality senior research staff to Cairns that will attract research and industry funding to facilitate diversification of local economy
* Provision of good quality post graduate business training facilities for management and leadership of local business community e.g. tourism, environmental, tropical expertise etc, etc)
The university’s strategic planning document “JCU in the Third Millennium” (http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/chancellery/vcoffice/Millennium.pdf) was due for update in 2007. The University Council have decided to postpone this update until 2008, to give the new Vice Chancellor an opportunity to get to know the university.
A progress report (September 2006) was presented to the University Council in December 2006 of the recommendations of the Review of the Cairns Campus. A further progress report will be prepared in February 2007.
Professor Harding felt the recent changes to migration policy, favour regional universities gaining overseas students. Students studying at regional universities are able to gain an additional 5 points on the application to migrate to Australia.
The Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management is being set up in Cairns and will be led by Professor Darren Lee-Ross. The Centre will have teaching & learning stream and a research stream. In discussions with TTNQ, they have advised the Chamber they are very pleased with these arrangements and are working closely with JCU on a number of projects.
JCU will be preparing a submission to establish a School of Dentistry at the Cairns Campus. The Chamber has offered our support for the project, which will require government funding. We have noted our support for the project at a recent meeting with Warren Entsch.
The Head of Nursing will move to the Cairns Campus in February 2007. The Chair of the Academic Board is also in Cairns, as is the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor. JCU is merging a number of its Schools and creating one Head and 2 deputies. It is envisaged some of the Heads of Schools will be in Cairns, with a deputy Head on each campus.
The Chamber has held subsequent meetings with JCU and are looking at a number of areas in which we can collaborate.
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Brisbane-Cairns Corridor return to menu
Corridor strategies are cooperative long-term plans that identify future transport needs on the corridor and the priorities for meeting those needs. The draft strategies present a detailed snapshot of the corridor, its transport function, deficiencies and future needs and provide a blueprint for devising practical solutions to emerging transport problems. Corridor Strategies are about Strategic Priorities not projects. Projects are seen as the next step once all 24 Corridor Strategies are complete.
AusLink is a major Australian Government initiative designed to improve planning, decision-making and funding for Australia’s national land transport infrastructure. A key component of the AusLink process is the development of a strategy for each corridor of the AusLink National Network. A Corridor Strategy is a statement of the shared objectives and strategic priorities of the Australian and State/Territory Governments for the long-term (20-25 year) development of the AusLink Network. Corridor strategies provide guidance to decision-makers and project proponents formulating network initiatives, and most importantly, inform development of the next and subsequent National Land Transport Plans.
Consistent with the spirit of AusLink, the Brisbane-Cairns Corridor Strategy is being developed by and is jointly owned by the Australian Government Department of Transport and Regional Services, the Queensland Department of Main Roads and Queensland Transport. This corridor strategy focuses on the future development of the routes that constitute parts of this AusLink corridor (the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns and the North Coast Rail Line from Brisbane to Townsville), while considering the impacts of port access and intermodal issues and all modes and other major routes.
The draft strategies present a detailed snapshot of the corridor, its transport function, deficiencies and future needs and provide a blueprint for devising practical solutions to emerging transport problems. Corridor Strategies are about Strategic Priorities not projects. Projects are seen as the next step once all 24 Corridor Strategies are complete.
These strategies will inform investment decisions for the corridors beyond 2009. The consultation period for the following six strategies have closed and stakeholder views are being considered in finalising the strategies:
• Perth-Adelaide Corridor Strategy
• Sydney-Melbourne Corridor Strategy
• Brisbane-Cairns Corridor Strategy
• Adelaide Urban Corridors Strategy
• Melbourne Urban Corridor Strategy
• Melbourne-Adelaide Corridor Strategy
Public comment on other Draft Corridor Strategies will be sought as they are completed. All the strategies will be ready by mid-2007.
Alerts ..
Crime E-Watch return to menu
Scam E-mails involving Credit Cards
Local business and tourism operators are being warned to be on the lookout for scam emails involving credit cards.
Accommodation businesses in Cairns have received e-mails confirming the booking of a
previous enquiry in regard to a hotel / room booking. The e-mail advises the business to
debit their credit for a large amount in excess of the booking cost.
The e-mail then asks for the business to forward to excess amount to another company to cover other travel costs.
Businesses are warned not to reply to these e-mails and to ensure that they do not pass on any details to these people.
Any information about these crimes can be reported to Cairns Police on 4030 7000 or Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
Small Business Solutionsreturn to menu
Small Business Solutions is a new Smart State initiative designed to enhance the business skills, profitability and growth of small businesses across Queensland. The program will enable small businesses to access personalised one-on-one mentoring from experienced and qualified small business professionals, for as little as $250 for three one hour sessions to $1000 for monthly one hour consultations over a year. Visit the Small Business Solutions website for further information
Queensland Training Awards return to menu
The nominations for the 2007 Queensland Training Awards opened on 1st February 2007. The awards recognise employers, students and organisations excelling in vocational education and training. Further information can be found at www.qta.qld.gov.au to register your interest or call 1800 660 207.
Ecobiz Workshop return to menu
The Environmental Protection Agency and Cairns Water will be conducting an ecoBiz workshop on Thursday, 10 May 2007. The ecoBiz program is an exciting initiative for businesses that is designed to help businesses improve their bottom line performance through eco-efficiency. The workshop will be presenting local eco-Biz success stories as well as information on how you can make the most of this program. Register with Cairns Water by Tuesday, 1 May 2007 to Mardi Brown on ph: 4044 8218 or email: m.brown@cairns.qld.gov.au
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