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JANUARY 24, 2025
Visitor levy in spotlight l CAIRNS REGION
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‘She’ll be right’ She Shed to provide safe place for women to connect
| Isabella Guzman Gonzalez A VISITOR levy is back on the agenda in Cairns. It was discussed by 200 tourism industry representatives at a ‘Destination 2045 – Queensland’s tourism future’ at The Reef Hotel Casino on Tuesday. Mayor Amy Eden said she did not support a tax, “but I am very much in support of a visitor levy, and the visitor levy proposed will be an absolute game changer for our city, but particularly for our region, and I know for a lot of other councils, particularly along the east coast of Queensland”. “It’s proposed to be about two and a half per cent, which is really common, and we do it all the time, when we use our credit card or, pay for things over EFTPOS, that surcharge is generally between 1.8 and 2.5 per cent,” she said. “So, it would be like that. We know that there are hundreds and hundreds of countries across the globe that have successfully done this, and it will allow our industry to be sustainable from a ratepayers’ point of view, and that’s something that (the) council always looks towards. It will deliver a cost of living relief because as everyone knows, we support our tourism industry.” CONTINUED PAGE 2
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l MANUNDA | Nick Dalton
She Shed volunteer Kylie Burke (left) and founder Jane Mitchell in their new Manunda venue to help women connect, learn and develop. Picture: Nick Dalton
A WOMEN’S version of the Men’s Shed – She Shed – is set to open in Cairns to provide a relaxed and comfortable environment where women can connect through creating, learning and sharing knowledge. A renovated Queenslander in Martyn St, Manunda, is the home of the She Shed, which is the brainchild of Jane Mitchell. The building has been completely fitted out and is awaiting Cairns Regional Council approval for a material change of use to community use. So far there have been 40-plus submissions of support. Mrs Mitchell said the idea followed three situations. “I had helped a friend who had four children, who was a very successful business woman,” she said. “During her struggle with cancer, she found herself misplaced in society with no connection or purpose,” she said. “I became a support worker for a while to another lady who had a stroke. She was fully aware of what was going on but lacked mobility and had limited speech. She wanted to do beading and get out and be ‘normal’ around other women. “With her very limited resources we
wound up beading together in the nursing home. “Then I worked at a psychology office. I saw repeatedly women looking for connection following the loss of a loved one or a marriage breakdown.” Mrs Mitchell said she was inspired by American researcher and storyteller Brene Brown who spoke about in tribal years women would go to the river to wash clothes and collect water and they would talk and connect. “In today’s busy modern world and for many reasons, including a huge shift in the nature of gender roles, family structures, living arrangements and working life, women are becoming more isolated,” she said. “In 2025 we would like She Shed Cairns to become a modern river for the women of Cairns.” The Mitchell family owns the She Shed property which is rented for a nominal fee. “In 2022 we unfortunately had a house fire on a property we owned. Thankfully there was no one hurt,” Mrs Mitchell said. The house was condemned and a Queenslander that was headed for landfill was relocated from Stratford. “We cut the house in half, replaced and built a new roof, built in the middle section, raised the house and built the space for the She Shed below using block walls,” Mrs Mitchell said. CONTINUED PAGE 3
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