As I read Mary’s article on the consideration of a second berth for cruise ships in the Sydney Harbour, I asked myself this question: If this proposal was taken to a bank, other than the bank of tax payers, what answer would CBRM get?
MS Rotterdam of the Holland America Line docked in Sydney.
The Executive Summary [of the CPCS due diligence report] is straight forward in its message — this is a risky venture, especially given that CBRM has to cover, on its own, the cost over-runs.
Couldn’t help but think of a somewhat mixed metaphor as I read this fine piece; here goes: A number of ‘carts’ need to be improved before this ‘Trojan Horse’ leaves the ‘barn.’ (Cart before the horse etc, etc.)
Cruise ship calls are subject to the arbitrariness of the cruise lines and it is, therefore, hard to calculate anticipated revenues from them as figure 2-4 at page 6 somewhat illustrates. It might be said that it would be easier to calculate revenue from ventures like golf courses and tuna charters than it is to calculate 30 years out on this proposal’s prospects.
Very interesting developments in CBRM; thanks Mary for the sharp reporting!
Scott Adamson
Ardness, NS
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