Why do we tolerate this? Spend more money on the Police Force.

What happens to all the money collected by the government from traffic fines such as:
(1.) Speeding fines.
(2). Traffic infringements.
(3). Vehicle  unworthiness.
(4). Drink driving.
How do we overcome these problems? well the government needs to spend more money on recruitment of police officers which will help overcome the absentees of police officers for various reasons being pushed to the limit due to a shortage of officers.

One of many police radar units

Police top management will always tell you that there is new recruitment's coming through all the time but what they don't tell you is "how many officers are leaving the force", how many officers are on stress leave, officers on holidays or officers relieving in higher positions which are usually replaced by officers from another station which in turn depletes the staffing level from that station.
Another point is that police are sitting in camera or radar units on the side of the road for hours when they could be utilised in other duties.

We're hiding and waiting

How any times do we see police hiding behind trees, behind electricity poles, centre garden areas on divided roads and even in bus shelters, these are probably tactics that have been drummed  into  their training, these radar units should be contracted out like they are in South Australia in fact have been for years.
Another interesting point is why isn't the radar sign placed behind the radar unit instead of in front?.
 When these units were introduced it was law that the sign had to be placed facing the traffic but it's sneakily placed in front of the unit and usually back from the road.

Ian Leavers.

The president of the Qld Police Union has been fighting for these officers for years and we as citizens should support them in every way possible.
We hear people saying everyday that we need more police and how true that is but until people start a people power  push on this the government and top management of the Qld police force they will just continue to say "we have just released ex amount of officers into the system, end of story.
A report from 25 October 2013 states:
The Queensland Government has reportedly netted close to $8 million in revenue in two weeks from speed-related offences following the second tightening of speeding leniency in three months.
News Limited reports that 53,816 fines were issued for speeding in the two weeks after speeding tolerance margins in QLD were lowered for the second time since July, translating to 3844 per day. This compares with 41,383 over the same period last year, or 2955 a day.
Coming into effect from September 20, the tolerance margin – the number of kilometres above the speed limit before a fine is issued – is believed to be around 10 per cent above the speed limit, however, police will not reveal a specific figure in a bid to avoid creating a de facto speed limit.
With the minimum speeding fine in the sunshine state costing drivers $146 (exceeding the speed limit by up to 13km/h), the two-week period would have generated at least $7.86 million in revenue – $1.82 million more than the same period in 2012.
This last paragraph had to a joke:
 In July, Queensland Police Minister Jack Dempsey defended the lowering of tolerance margins saying they were about road safety and not revenue raising.

Unmarked police vehicle

Marked Highway Patrol Car

Where does all the money go? it should go into more police, more highway patrol and unmarked cars saturating the roads and highways and being more visible instead of hiding behind bushes, trees and light poles.




The public expects to be protected and the government MUST pour more money into the police force so that these officers can carry out their duties in the most efficient and professional manner.

Gold Coast Sheraton Mirage to be sold for $160 million to Aquis casino billionaires

As reported in The Sydeney Morning Herald.
May 6, 2015.

Another day another story, just build your casino on the Gold Coast and leave Cairns alone.

Aquis Entertainment's Tony and Justin Fung could looking at opening a Gold Coast casino

 The Hong Kong billionaires behind Australia's largest casino proposal, Aquis, believe Queensland's Gold Coast could become a destination for big-spending overseas gamblers.
It comes as the Fung family secured the exclusive negotiation rights to purchase the five-star Sheraton Mirage resort, which has been on the market since last year.

An artist's impression of the proposed $8 billion Aquis casino and resort in Cairns

  It is understood the Fungs will pay about $160 million for the site, adding to a recent $120 million Gold Coast property spending spree.

 The head of Aquis Entertainment's Australian operations, Justin Fung, said a casino at the Sheraton was being considered.
"There are a lot of different options available to us, one of which may include a casino," Mr Fung said.
"We have a lot of confidence in international tourism coming to Queensland...The Gold Coast is obviously a great representation of that and has an international brand name, it has tourism infrastructure already, we have seen the announcement of direct international flights from China. There's been a lot of foreign investment coming into the city."
The Gold Coast already has the Jupiters casino, and plans for a second casino in the area were in the works until the Queensland Government halted an integrated resort and cruise ship terminal at Wavebreak Island.
Any new casino would require licence approval from Queensland's state government.
However, Mr Fung was confident the Gold Coast could sustain a second casino.
"When we talk about the capacity for a second casino it isn't entirely based on local population, it's dependent on the growth of the tourism sector," he said.
In recent months Aquis Entertainment has spent $50 million on a Robina development site, $55 million Surfers Paradise apartment site, $15.8 million on Nathan Tinkler's Patinack Farms and $7 million on a Gold Coast penthouse.
Negotiations are continuing with the Queensland state government to secure a licence for the $8 billion Aquis casino and resort in Cairns, which could open in 2020.
The elaborate Macau-style resort will seek to attract international players with deep pockets ahead of local punters.
Aquis has received environmental approvals and Mr Fung said negotiations with the Labor government was progressing well.
"We're feeling very confident," he said.
"I've found that they've been very forward-thinking, they've been cooperative, they've been fair but firm. We're very confident about our future in Queensland."
Aquis purchased Casino Canberra last year for $6 million and is planning a major facelift.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/gold-coast-sheraton-mirage-to-be-sold-for-160-million-to-aquis-casino-billionaires-20150506-ggvgb8.html

Justin Fung interview

Today the ABC 91.7 Gold Coast Half Hour interviewed Justin Fung on the Sheraton Mirage with the possibility of a casino being included.
Sorry, but very little said about Cairns.

Another Aquis spray....

Listening to talkback radio today the Federal Member for Leichardt Warren Entsch was asked about Aquis and he stated that he was all for it and that the Federal Government had passed the EIS for them and recently he spoke to Justin Fung who stated that they "WERE INTERESTED" (past tense) Warren stated this and can be heard during. the interview.
Was this a slip of the tongue or did Justin Fung make this statement to mean Cairns is no longer viable to us either way as I reported before Tony Fung appears to found his niche on the Gold Coast. http://www.cairnsvideonews.com/2015/05/has-tony-fung-at-last-found-his-niche.html


This whole saga is really wearing thin with most residents so please just tell the residents "all is finished" and we are  building up our empire on the Gold Coast so Aquis is now out of the equation.
Also as reported before http://www.cairnsvideonews.com/2015/05/aquis-gets-environmental-approval-by.html now that's there's a Trade Agreement between the two countries China will definitely push for Chinese workers to be granted work visas to work on Chinese projects and the Australian Government is not going to upset China by denying visas for the workers so again the Australian workers will miss out.
We must remember that Cairns is and probably will always be a tourist destination not a gambling mecca.
Forget Aquis let's get on with what we do best.

Kevin's view

On Monday June 1, 2015 John McKenzie from 846 interviewed the former Mayor of Cairns Kevin Byrnes on various things and one that surprised me was when he described Aquis as being a lemon.
As reported in previous articles I have said that Aquis was fading into the sunset more recently commenting on Tony Fung spending up "BIG" on the Gold Coast.
http://www.cairnsvideonews.com/2015/05/has-tony-fung-at-last-found-his-niche.html
What people have to remember is that Cairns is a tourist city not an industrial city and that's what the people rely on and it's something that the residents have to accept.
Cairns will probably never be anywhere near an industrial city due to the distance from the major cities and one of the biggest problems that exists is that interstate people move to Cairns without first checking on the availability of employment and housing.
Unfortunately when they do arrive they find that work is very scarce and the biggest employers are the tourist resorts who in turn employ cheap labour such as backpackers.
The government needs to seriously consider dredging the inlet to allow larger ships to dock and in doing so will flourish from the money spent by the passengers, sometimes 2500 on one ship.
Long haul aircrafts carry between 160 to 250 passengers coming into Cairns and the decline in overseas airlines has dropped dramatically over the years.
The international arrivals according to one operator is significantly down with Jetstar cancelling flights to Japan and vice versa  if the aircraft isn't over half capacity and one can't blame them as it isn't viable to any operator.
Listen to what Kevin Byrne had to say: