Townsville media cluster about Member for Herbert Ewen Jones as he announces on the Townsville waterfront , near the ferry terminal, a special $45,000 Federal Government grant to Sealink . In typical fashion , Jones , a former real estate auctioneer went on and on . The 45 grand, he said , would enable huge things to be done ... jobs , an expanded tourist drive with such an impact that overseas visitors would want to come back again , huge opportunities ...
It sounded as if this small cash offering would rival the miracle of feeding the hungry multitude with gluten free loaves and fishes. The reporters took the bait , went away and dutifully ran Ewen's spiel.
Astonishingly , nobody in the media raised the fact that Lucy Hughes Turnbull , wife of the PM, had been both a director and deputy chairman of the Sealink board and had stepped down in October 2015 after Malcolm dethroned Abbott.
Surely somebody in Canberra , the PM's office and Ewen Jones himself realised that for the Feds to make a grant to a company to which Mrs Turnbull had been closely associated would not be a good look just before an election.
And an alert local media should have rightly raised this with Jones at the seaside picnic. In the case of the Townsville Bulletin , it is surprising it did not pick up the Turnbull link as one of its old hand reporters , not many left , a few months ago wrote an interesting story quoting a well known Magnetic Island resident , the globally famous Toadmaster no less, Vern Veitch , who ran cane toad races at a pub in Arcadia , as saying he had shares in Sealink when Lucy Turnbull was on the board , had done well with his investment, and would like to take her for a tour of the island .
Present at the media conference was Sealink Queensland general manager Paul Victory , hands on hips in photo , quoted as saying the grant, from the Industry Skills Fund, would have a big impact . Sealink staff , which had gone from 80 to 100 in the past year , would be able to diversify their skills. This would help Sealink present the right product to the right people . Great stuff .
One thing Sealink might now be able to do is make sure the ferry terminal in Townsville is open until the last run to Magnetic Island instead of closing and passengers having to wait outside , a great leap forward in service .
It would also be nice if artwork could be done on the above lopsided notice at the terminal front door announcing that , when the place is shut, passengers wanting to use the toilet should scarper away to the quaint , powder blue dunnies ( not red brick with spiders ) near the Coast Guard, if you know where that is . If you are in a hurry , these distant amenities can be reached by clambering over a traffic rail , dodging through parked cars, sometimes on wet and windy nights. A memorable introduction to Townsville if you are a newcomer who has just arrived by plane.
One thing Sealink might now be able to do is make sure the ferry terminal in Townsville is open until the last run to Magnetic Island instead of closing and passengers having to wait outside , a great leap forward in service .
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To quote the PM , it pays to be agile and nimble in Townsville.
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The notice is attached to the door with what appears to be blue tack . The primitive sign and dunny arrangements are hardly the right product for the right people from interstate and overseas you want to come back again .
Sealink , listed on the stock exchange in October 2013, operates Captain Cook Cruises and ferry services on Sydney Harbour , the Kangaroo Island , South Australia run , and in Darwin ; it bought the privately owned Queensland based Transit Systems Marine with its 33 passenger , vehicle and tourist ferries for $125million and raised $40million through institutional investors.
