An ex Queensland MP has lashed out at the state government over the controversial 99-year lease granted to a Chinese developer. Wealthy Chinese developers snapped up a portion of Keswick Island on the Great Barrier Reef for about $20million in 2019, but now residents say the Beijing-backed buyers are trying to stop Australians from setting foot on the sub tropical paradise. The firm has banned boats from accessing the public ramp, shut down the air strip, attempted to stop visitors from using the beach – and locals claim it is being kept exclusively for rich Chinese tourists. While the breathtaking Whitsundays oasis, 34km north-east Mackay in central east Queensland, is 80 per cent national park, the Chinese company controls the remaining 20 per cent and has used its power to padlock all access points to the otherwise government-owned park. Former Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan said it’s ‘utter cr*p!’ Keswick Island (pictured) is located 34km north-east Mackay in central east Queensland – but the public have been banned by a Chinese company ‘I’m happy to supply the bolt cutter… this is the Whitsundays, not Wuhan. What is going on here?’ He told 2GB radio on Friday. ‘I can’t believe the government signed up investors for 99 years… Read full this story
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