General News
5 August, 2025
‘Bickering’ over crumbs
A CAIRNS regional councillor has admonished her colleagues for arguing and debating on a meeting item that only involved a few thousand dollars, yet rubber stamped other projects costing millions of dollars.
An issue at last week’s fortnightly meeting was an alternative motion put by Mayor Amy Eden requesting that council chief executive officer Ken Gouldthorp not accompany her to Papua New Guinea in September to mark 50 years of independence for the Pacific nation.
The cost of the trip to Cairns’ sister city of Lae, in the Morobe province, was estimated at about $3000 each for flights and accommodation with security an additional expense.
Yet when it came to four items of road resealing, road pavement rehabilitation, asphalt overlays and kerb and channelling and shoulder sealing totalling nearly $12 million, there was no debate or discussion.
Cr Rhonda Coghlan (division 8) told the meeting that it was “yes, interesting, as Cr (Brett) Olds said before, that we bicker over a couple of thousand dollars, yet we don’t blink over almost $2.5m (road resealing)”.
In support of her PNG motion, Cr Eden said “we all know how closely the community is watching how we spend ratepayers’ money and rightly so”.
“At a time when households are doing it tough, we need to lead by example, ensuring that every dollar spent delivers public value,” she said.
But councillors voted 7-2 against the motion, arguing that together Mr Gouldthorp and the mayor could help build a stronger relationship with the PNG government.
Later Cr Eden pushed for the council to waive $3.7m in charges to developer Darren Halpin to build a $188m water and tourist park at Kewarra Beach.
Councillors voted 6-3 against the motion, with Crs Coghlan and Olds voting with Cr Eden.
Following debate in the closed session, the councillors instead voted unanimously to waive $1.9m in fees to the developer – almost $1.8m less than first proposed. The $1.9m covers the first two stages of the project. The initial waiver of $3.7m was to cover the entire $235m project.
Later Cr Eden issued a statement regarding her stance on the Kewarra Beach project.
“I supported the proposal to waive $3.74m for PPNQ, along with Cr Olds and Cr Coghlan, because of the significant economic return and industry diversification it will bring to Cairns,” she said.
“My aim was to deliver the strongest possible return on investment for our residents.
“When that motion didn’t pass, I backed the next best option – a reduced waiver of $1.95m – which still delivers significance economic benefit to our community.
“Throughout these decisions my approach remained consistent – to support smart investment while being financially responsible on behalf of ratepayers.
“That same principle guided my decision on the PNG visit, which I outlined during the meeting.”
