They'll talk to business people but not the residents.....WHY? Does money really talk

It is interesting to see that the developers and  Flanagan Consulting Group met with the real estate agents at a Real Estate Institute of Queensland  Forum on Tuesday July 15, 2014.

Mr king the Aquis representative was questioned as to whether Mr Fung had the financial capicity to build the Mega Resort.

I have poised this question before on this site but we haven't seen anything that would substantiate that funding was available.

Mr Fung as reported earlier travelled earlier to Hong Kong seeking the banks backing and also seeking investors but nothing has been said if that was a successful venture.

What we do have is a comment by Justion Fung as follows:

The Fung family had spoken to financial institutions about funding the resort and had not yet committed to any, he said.

You can read the article below dated June 7, 2014 under the heading:

Another day another story but will it ever eventuate.

So who do we believe? has the State government requested information on the funding? so that residents have sound information and understanding of this issue, what happens if the project starts then suddenly stops for unforseen reasons who is going to pay for the cleanup to put the area back to it's original state.

Here is a comment by a qualified project financier with over 30 years experience and poses this question:

With no joint venture investor parties, a hotel operator of international calibre nor an experienced casino operator there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Mr Fung has the financial capacity to deliver this massive $8bln project himself. So before spending huge amounts of public monies and time on evaluating the Aquis EIS why has the government not demanded Mr Fung provide assurance that if the EIS is approved, licence granted etc he has underwritten finance and can actually then deliver the project. This is usually standard practice for substantial projects such as this. Simply if Fung and this project is to be given any credibility as anything other than ‘pie in the sky’ we need to see a letter from lending agencies such as banks that they will make all monies available for the construction of Aquis if licences are granted.

Mr King made a statement at the meeting and is listed in red below then in blue he states that "we are very confident international capital markets will providing the funding necessary to complete Aquis.

That would mean no there is no financial backing for this venture at this time, why can't there be some truth in this story.

It's turning out to be another sage like "Days of our Lives" .... never ending.

Also an attempt was made to get Pat Flanagan out to Yorkeys to speak to the residents and explain what was happening with this project but his reply was "As I am under contact and cannot speak about this" but now they can speak at a forum with Real Estate business people.

Absolutely disgusting and a slap in the face for the local residents...MONEY DOES TALK.

Also keep in mind that the Federal Government had discussions with the Chinese Premier , in fact the Chinese were demanding that work visas be issued to Chinese workers so that they can work on Chinese projects in Australia, so where's all the work for the locals?.

Read more: http://m.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/free-trade-agreement-china-wants-to-send-workers-into-australia-20140415-zquve.html?skin=dumb-phone

Read the story from the Cairns Post...

Estate agents rally for Aquis housing while Fung reps confirm project has financial clout

DANIEL BATEMAN THE CAIRNS POST JULY 16, 2014 8:00AM

VISION: An artist's impression of the main entrance of the $8.15 billion Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort at Yorkeys Knob.

HONG Kong billionaire Tony Fung’s representatives have declared he has the financial clout required to proceed with Aquis, if the mega-resort is approved.

It comes as real estate agents have been rallied together to help find accommodation to house thousands of construction workers associated with the $4.6 billion development.

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland hosted an industry forum yesterday on the proposed casino-resort, and the opportunities it presented for Far North businesses.

The project will comprise 7500 hotel rooms, a casino, shopping precinct and a convention centre.

The public consultation phase associated with the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Yorkeys Knob project started on June 21 and ends on August 5.

At the forum, attended by about 200 real estate agents and urban developers, Aquis representative Michael King was questioned whether Mr Fung had the financial capacity to fund the project.
Since Aquis was announced more than 12 months ago, it has faced opposition, with local groups questioning whether developers have the money.

Mr King told the forum his employer had so far spent more than $23 million on the project, including feasibility studies and the Environmental Impact Statement, and so far received zero return.

“As to the question of financial capacity – he’s playing a weird, strange game if he’s spending $23 million for the fun of it,’’ he said.

“He’s not.

“Having said that, every major casino project in the world is listed on the stock exchange ... there is no question that ultimately Aquis is headed for a stock exchange listing. When that will happen, though, is still up in the air.”

“We are very confident international capital markets will providing the funding necessary to complete Aquis,’’ he said.

Aquis is expected to generate 9300 jobs during its construction, rising to 10,000 jobs a year once operational.

REIQ acting CEO Antonia Mercorella said there were concerns about the project’s demand on housing, and impact on local businesses.

“We would anticipate the housing process would be driven up, the rental prices would be higher and inevitably that will have some impact on affordability,’’ she said.

“But there was some indication that some people may choose to live outside of the Cairns base, and perhaps a little bit further away.

“Still, it comes back to meeting that demand.

“We need to plan for it.

“And that was the call for action today.”

The project’s EIS states the cost of renting in the northern beaches is anticipated to increase as investor speculation increases and vacancy rates decline. The report also says owners will quickly command higher rental returns, placing pressure on those least able to absorb the increases.

It says some displacement of renters is expected to occur quickly, which may have flow-on effects for services providers who provide social and emergency housing services to lower social-economic sectors.

Flanagan Consulting Group director Pat Flanagan, speaking after the forum, said Cairns’ development industry would need to respond to the call for demand for housing associated with Aquis.
Mr Flanagan, whose firm carried out many of the EIS studies, said it was clear more housing stock was needed to supply this demand.