Cairns to take in $20m for Chinese New Year and other top stories.

• Cairns to take in $20m for Chinese New Year

  COLOURFUL: Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc’s Monkey in action at the Centenary Lakes Chinese gardens with the lion and dragon dancers. PICTURE: STEWART McLEANCHINESE tourists are expected to splash up to $20 million during three weeks of Lunar New Year celebrations.Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Alex de Waal said conservative estimates indicated 35,000-40,000 visitors from China were spending $17m-$20m on dining, accommodation, tours, shopping, gaming and other act..

  >> view original



• Political leaders urge Prime Minister to give Cairns patrol boat contract

  

  HEATING UP: Boilermakers complete maintenance work on a shipping barge at the Norship shipyard at Portsmith. Sandy Stewart grinds back some steel plates. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKEPRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull is facing mounting pressure to answer a $2 billion question ahead of his arrival in Cairns on Sunday – will the city secure the Pacific patrol boat tender? Cairns community and business leaders are hoping for a commitment from the new Prime Minister on the lucrative 30-year contract to build..

  >> view original



• NRL star Macdonald hails Cairns 'family' ahead of blockbuster

  

  READY TO FIRE: Cairns product Nene Macdonald will showcase his flying best for the World All Stars at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.NENE Macdonald will tonight have his PNG family by his side and his Cairns “family” on his mind throughout the NRL All Stars clash.The former Brothers junior will start on the wing for the World All Stars at Suncorp Stadium, another monumental milestone for the dynamic Titans game-breaker.After 11 matches for the Roosters across 2014 and 2015, a mid-season switc..

  >> view original



• Interim report finds Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health ...

  

  An interim report has been released into the deaths of seven people at Herberton Hospital Picture: BRIAN CASSEYAN interim report released into the death of seven people at Herberton Hospital has found local authorities acted “promptly and appropriately” to the incident.The hospital, a 38-bed aged and palliative care facility, was locked down last month following an outbreak of human metapneumovirus (hMPV).Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Julie Hartley-Jones said ..

  >> view original



• Time running out to find new Woolies chief

  

  Gordon Cairns is under pressure to deliver a new boss for Woolworths by the end of the month. Photo: Daniel Munoz Time is running out for Woolworths chair Gordon Cairns to meet his own deadline and bring on a new boss to lead the embattled retail operation.With just over two weeks until the end of February, some supermarket insiders suggest the job is still up for grabs and no one candidate is in the frame.Sources close to Woolworths were stunned by these rep..

  >> view original



• Great Barrier Reef featured in Ocean Film Festival Australia

  

  AWESOME: The third Ocean Film Festival Australia, this year to premiere in Cairns at the Centre of Contemporary Arts for two nights. PICTURE: SUPPLIEDDIVING on the Great Barrier Reef, surfing, and sailing – it’s hard to imagine a more immersive world than the ocean and its inhabitants. It’s a world, the glories of which will be highlighted on film in the third Ocean Film Festival Australia, this year to premiere in Cairns at the Centre of Contemporary Arts for two nights.Director Jemima Robinson..

  >> view original



• Queensland Deputy Premier saves FNQ”s Behana Gorge

  

  BATTLE WON: Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt with local campaigner Emily Rossi at Behana Gorge. PICTURE: JUSTIN BRIERTYPRISTINE Behana Gorge has officially been saved.A long-running community campaign for the removal of the Behana Gorge Key Resource Area (KRA) from the Cairns Regional Plan ended yesterday with a signature from Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.The area was under threat from a potential quarry, after the former LNP government imposed a condition on Cairns Regional Council to include the ..

  >> view original



• Virtual College student virtually raises $250K worth of donations for ...

  02/12/16 sryBy Sophia Rose Young University Relations and Marketing HAYS, Kan. -- Scrolling through her Facebook feed, Stacy Cairns-Abdein, a Virtual College student at Fort Hays State University earning her Master of Professional Studies in social entrepreneurship, saw an opportunity to help a friend who simply asked the virtual world if anyone knew of an organization in Alabama collecting donations for Syrian refugees. "No one did, so I decided that I would try to set up a small winter clothin..

  >> view original

Backpackers weigh in on lockout debate in Cairns .	Students return to class after bomb threats force evacuation of two ... .
It's no lion, Chinese New Year has come to Cairns .	Two boys taken to hospital with severe sunburn at Cairns .