Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The tourism season is upon us—the four-day break that a lot of people look forward to. If you're headed to Far North Queensland, or if you're lucky enough to be a local, can I recommend heading over the river to the Daintree. On Thursday, the Daintree Ferry will open again after being closed due to a flooding incident on 6 March. It's open to visitors. You could go there for a half-day reef tour. You could look for crocs or cassowaries, take a dip in one of the croc-free swimming holes or grab an ice cream or the tropical fruit that is in abundance.

These are not big businesses. These are family businesses who have been cut off through no fault of their own. The Daintree is one of the last truly wild places on the planet. You go there, and you'll have a great time, and the people of the Daintree will welcome you with open arms. We can support our local families and our local businesses really close to home by driving that hour and a half up the road from Cairns, taking that ferry and heading into the wilderness. Go and look out over Cape Tribulation and experience what people put on their bucket list, right around the corner.

I know it's been a hard few weeks for the businesses of the Daintree. They don't ask for much, but they want to show off their region. So I urge everyone in Far North to head in that direction and support our local businesses.

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