Advance Cairns
Citylife Column
By Jacinta Reddan
CEO Advance Cairns, May 9, 2025
It’s been a big few weeks for Far North Queensland with the federal election held earlier this quarter, resulting in a changing of the guard. After nearly three decades of service, long-standing Member Warren Entsch retired, with the seat contested by two first-time major party candidates – Jeremy Neal (LNP) and Matt Smith (Labor).
We commend all candidates for their commitment to public service, specifically Matt and Jeremy who both campaigned long and hard to be our voice for this vast and diverse region. In partnership with TTNQ, we hosted a candidate forum to provide members and the wider business community the opportunity to hear directly from them on key regional issues.
We congratulate Matt Smith who was hustled off to Canberra in his first days as the new Member for Leichhardt but not before he joined the Western Cape Symposium virtually to speak to the 250 delegates about his focus on Weipa and to listen to some of the key issues which were discussed.
A peaceful transition to democracy is a hallmark of our Australian system and the gracious speeches by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on election night are something to be celebrated and cherished.
Above all, this is a celebration of democracy – and held personal meaning for me. This was the first time in nearly 15 years that I have had the opportunity to cast my vote in an Australian Federal election: I was struck off the electoral roll when I lived in Asia and could only follow the elections from afar, disappointed I could not have my say through the ballot box.
Living in Asia and watching the hard-fought battle for democracy in so many countries across the region, our Australian democratic system took on even greater meaning.
So, it was with a great sense of reverence for our system that I cast my first vote in many years on the same day my two daughters cast their first.
And in my role as CEO of Advance Cairns, the leading voice for Far North Queensland, I had the privilege of getting to work closely with both candidates. This is an opportunity that neither of them took lightly and is one that Matt Smith will be sure to live up to as he promises to “stand up and speak up for the people of Leichhardt”.
As the tallest Member of our Federal Parliament, that’s a given!
We look forward to working with the new Member of Leichhardt to deliver on election commitments on issues including additional funding for the Cairns Water Security project and the new CBC campus of CQUniversity, a major upgrade of the Bruce Highway and a new Barron River bridge at Kuranda, as well as investment in women’s sport with funds for the North Queensland Cowboys high-performance and community development training facility. We’ll also continue to push for funding for additional funded places at James Cook University’s medical school and for support for COUCH Wellness Centre.
And so, a new era begins.
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