Buy Christmas Island back.
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Who want to share and buy Christmas Island. My plan is to buy the Island and make it into a luxury retirement Island Resort. Apparently a former mayor of Christmas Island feels that the island is useless to Australia and should be sold to Indonesia.
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Former mayor wants to sell Christmas Island to Indonesia
Former Maroochy Shire mayor Alison Barry-Jones wants the Coast’s entertainment and arts centre back high on the list of local priorities.
CHRISTMAS Island should be sold to Indonesia and the funds used to pay for a new arts, convention and exhibition centre in central Maroochydore.
That is the unusual idea from former Maroochy Shire mayor Alison Barry-Jones.
Ms Barry-Jones has been pushing the economic and social benefits of a modern exhibition centre for the Sunshine Coast for more than 15 years, and has not totally discounted the "out of the box" suggestion to sell the island to generate some much-needed funding.
She believes the value of such a centre to the community is vastly underrated and can help to not only generate income and jobs, but also to create a central "soul" in a community.
"Selling Christmas Island will solve several problems and provide the Sunshine Coast with the funding for the arts and exhibition centre," she said.
"Moving this project back to being a top priority, along with the upgrade of the Bruce Hwy, will create the economic opportunities that our unemployed youth need and deserve."
The unusual idea to sell the island came from retired geologist Phillip Connard, of Verrierdale.
He put it forward as a solution to Australia's immigration dilemma before Ms Barry-Jones saw the potential for a funding windfall.
"Most Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel arrivals target Christmas Island - which is just 350km, or less than two days passage in a fishing vessel - off the Indonesian coast," Mr Connard wrote in a letter to the editor.
"The Australian mainland is a further 1600km to the south, and few vessels have attempted the voyage.
"Remove Christmas Island from the equation, and the problem of illegal boat arrivals goes away. So why not sell it to Indonesia?"
Mr Connard said the island had "no future economic value to Australia" and was a drain on our economy.
"Geologically the island is an isolated seamount, not part of the Australian continental plate, and has no petroleum potential or other mineral resources," he said.
Ms Barry-Jones said the entertainment and arts complex should be a greater priority than the planned expansion of Sunshine Coast Airport.
"It's a solution to our economic crisis, first and foremost, over and above the airport," she said.
"It's no good developing a big fat airport and having nothing more for people to do here. The airport would develop on its own accord because of the pressure from business."
Ms Barry-Jones argued a shortage of money was an easy fallback argument that seemed to have relegated the entertainment centre perpetually to the backburner.
"You can imagine the region without the university and without the TAFE and the Southern Access (Maroochy Boulevard) - at the time there was an outcry that we'd never get it because of the money," she said.
"Money gets spent elsewhere - we just need our politicians to fight for it."
She noted that the region seemed strongly focused on sporting events despite reports from Virgin Airlines that some 50% of travellers sought out cultural experiences.
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i think what that mayor said maybe are the few of the reasons why singapore sold off the island its so far away sg gov have to station troop there would you want to be station there? so many cases of kidnapping of tourists by terroist ( recent case bom bom island) if not island full of refuges .....
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å‡ å¤šé’±?
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buy back for what? Ho Ho Ho? More HDB? More Sentosa Cove?
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Christmas Island not forever christmas one
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you sound like charlize
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Originally posted by FireIce:
å‡ å¤šé’±?
I think that time Aussie gave us 2.9million pounds. So now we buy back 2.9million pounds plus interest. -
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
Christmas Island not forever christmas one
We rename it Gong Xi Fa Cai Island since CNY is coming.
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Buy Island...
Name it Foreign Talent Island, aka FT Island
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Or turn it into Singapore's prison version of Alcatraz Island so that next time, dangerous prisoners like Mas Selamat will not be able to escape.
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Originally posted by M the name:
Or turn it into Singapore's prison version of Alcatraz Island so that next time, dangerous prisoners like Mas Selamat will not be able to escape.
Should have send Wong Kan Seng there long time ago so that dangerous prisoner like Mas Selamat do not escape in the first place. -
Grow rice there :lol:
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
Grow rice there
Lol...might as well stick a nuclear plant whilst at it -
build giant nuclear power plants there :lol:
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hey actually the nuclear plant good idea. But problem is how to deliver the power. Under sea cable will be too long and expensive.
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it's ok, the citizens will pay for the cables :lol:
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Set up ERP gantries.
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The island was transferred by the UK to Australia in 1957. It wasn't bought, 2.9 million pounds was paid to the govt of singapore (before 1965 independence), based on the estimated value of phospate which could be mined.
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Originally posted by ditzy:
The island was transferred by the UK to Australia in 1957. It wasn't bought, 2.9 million pounds was paid to the govt of singapore (before 1965 independence), based on the estimated value of phospate which could be mined.
yes a very accurate historical account. Ok, since all the phospate had been mined clean by the Aussies...we should be able to get it back for free then. -
It still have a price tag with fishing right on economic sea zoning.
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Fishes for the cats :lol:
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Yes, we should get Christmas Island back. It is such a national shame that we sold our own territory back then in 1958. The island has many potentials and we can fight for oil in the Indian ocean and earn lots of money.....why not? Plus have a lot of delicious red crabs leh....I can go there for fun and food.
