Huge swaths of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are suffering from bleaching caused by an underwater heat wave, according to marine scientists. Photo: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies / Terry Hughes

Huge swaths of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are suffering from bleaching caused by an underwater heat wave, according to marine scientists. Photo: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies / Terry Hughes

BESIDE one of the world’s most ecologically diverse beauty spots, the foundations are soon to be laid for a massive, alien-looking construction.

With three futuristic domes emerging from a gigantic artificial lake, dotted with eight luxury hotel blocks, a golf course and palm trees, Australia’s largest resort will be “like nothing you’ve seen before.”

The 350 hectare village will offer 7500 bedrooms, a convention centre, two 2500-seat theatres, a sports stadium, shops and a mega aquarium.

And it’s right on the Great Barrier Reef.

Developers are pushing forward with plans for the $8 billion project, with the apparent blessing of the Queensland government. But as plans for the extravagant development forge ahead, many are terrified over what it could mean for Australia’s fragile and unique natural wonder.

THE CASINO QUESTION

The company responsible for the Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort project has managed to get it through early approvals by removing the huge casino from the plan, after which Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt this week said it had a “very strong chance of progressing”.

If the plans meet requirements, construction on a $2 billion first stage could start next year.

But critics say the mega-resort north of Cairns is not be viable in terms of job creation and tourist attraction without the casino — raising questions about whether it will be reintroduced later down the line.

Aquis is not denying it. A spokesman told news.com.au that a casino had not been ruled out. “Our priority is advancing the real estate approvals for the project and hope to have these done by the end of the year,” he said. “We will address the casino approvals at a later date.”

The man behind the project, Hong Kong tycoon Tony Fung, made a surprise visit to Cairns this week for the first time in a year.

The Cairns Post reported that he met with city mayor Bob Manning, who said it was “important that we sit around a table”, in private so Mr Fung was “under no pressure”.

The billionaire was last seen in Cairns in late 2014 after he abandoned a bid to take over the city’s Reef Hotel Casino, instead buying Casino Canberra for $6 million and investing millions on the Gold Coast.

‘BIGGEST STRUCTURE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE’

Denis Walls, spokesman for the Aquis Aware Coalition of Concerned Citizens, told news.com.au that it was already too late to present environmental concerns.

“We can bleat on as much as we like about impact to the reef but [Mr Fung] has got experts to say everything can be managed by engineering - levees, filtration, barrier, raising the building 6.7 metres above sea level. They’ve got the green light from the point of view of the environment to go ahead, that’s the sad fact.”

The Yorkeys Knob site is on a floodplain, meaning the development is vulnerable to earthquakes and extreme weather, which could have knock-on effects on nearby areas.

Mr Walls said the enormous project was expected to increase the population of Cairns from 150,000 to 200,000, which would be immensely challenging for a small city in such a fragile location to handle. It’s hard to predict the effects of a flood of visitors and such massive construction work in and around the resort.

“They’re said it’s going to be ‘the biggest structure in the southern hemisphere.’

“Who’s going to pay for the infrastructure? New roads, bridges, schools. We want to keep what makes Cairns special, the reef and rainforest.”

‘GAMBLING, PROSTITUTION, TRIADS’

With protesters unable to complain about environmental effects, they’ve focused on what the resort could mean for the community.

Mr Walls is campaigning on three fronts - wrong place (a floodplain), wrong size (”it could suck the life out of a town like Cairns”) and wrong type (a casino).

“It will encourage people to come here for different purposes,” he said. “Gambling, prostitution, triads. If it’s just a gambling destination for middle-class Chinese, that’s setting us up for economic problems.”

As for locals, Cairns already has a high number of problem gamblers, and it is domestic pokie players who typically help prop up Australian casinos. Cairns was Queensland’s highest spending pokie city per capita in 2012.

“We already have a casino. We’re very concerned about inviting gambling on this scale to Cairns,” said Mr Walls.

“It would be way beyond our capacity to manage, it would have to be done from Brisbane, so the community would have very little input.”

Many are concerned about what may lie ahead - road congestion, gangsterism or a serious impact on the local economy and their quality of life.

‘TURNING INTO FARCE’

Concerns over the project are widespread, but no one really knows enough to stop it forging ahead.

Campaigner Kate O’Callaghan wrote in a petition with more than 2000 signatures that environmental groups were “alarmed at the size, scale and coastal location of the mega development.”

She said that “turning the city into a flashy, gambling hub” and making the state dependent on gambling revenue was not a “sound approach to sustainable economic development.”

But the voice of people like her has been drowned out, with the resort gaining streamlined approval status and circumventing the usual stringent assessments required in an environmentally sensitive area.

“The whole thing is turning into farce,” said Mr Walls, of the decision to remove the casino from the plans. “It’s a little mysterious. We believe it’s an underhand way to get approval.”

Mr Fung has reportedly found two Chinese backers for the project, but there are questions over their connections and who they are. One of the groups is reportedly closely linked to China’s ruling party, and has faced a number of corruption allegations, which saw it banned from participating in World Bank projects.

It’s just one more thing for Cairns to be worried about. And the rest of Australia might well be worried too.

emma.reynolds@news.com.au