Redland City Mayor Karen Williams believes Tourism Australia should look no further than North Stradbroke Island as the Queensland location for their “Best job in the world” campaign.

Cr Williams wrote to Queensland Minister for Tourism Jann Stuckey to ask that Straddie be considered as a location for the world wide tourism campaign which is being supported by Tourism Queensland and Events.

“One lucky applicant will win a job as a park ranger in Queensland as part of Tourism Australia’s “Best job in the world” campaign. In my opinion the successful applicant should call Straddie home as part of their tenure,” she said.

“This promotion is being supported by Tourism Queensland and as such I have written to the Minister to throw our hat in the ring as a location of choice for the park ranger position.”
The campaign is being led by Tourism Australia with input from most state tourism bodies.
Cr Williams said her letter to the Minister outlined the reasons why Straddie should be considered for the park ranger post.

“While the advantages of including Straddie in this campaign are obvious, I felt it was important to make it official by writing to Ms Stuckey,” she said.

“The letter highlighted Straddie’s beautiful natural environment, abundant and diverse marine life and rich indigenous culture.”

Tourism and CBD Activation Committee spokesman and Division 2 (Cleveland and NSI) Councillor Craig Ogilvie said land-based whale watching was one of the island’s biggest attractions.

“There are few better land-based vantage points for watching migrating humpback whales than Point Lookout and the ranger could tell the world that any visitor to Queensland can enjoy this unique experience between May and November,” he said.

“The successful applicant can also enjoy some amazing snorkelling and diving or try their hand at surfing and the islands beaches are ranked among the best in the world.

“While Queensland has a number of great locations for the park ranger, there are few that have the attractions of Straddie so close to the capital city, offering fantastic promotional opportunities for the state.”

Cr Williams said while the letter focussed on Straddie, it also highlighted the other attractions of the Redlands including the Southern Moreton Bay Islands of Russell Island, Karragarra Island, Lamb Island and Macleay Island.

Tourism Australia recently shortlisted the best job in the world applicants to the final 25 for each job and will announce the successful candidate on 21 June 2013.

To support the Redlands’ proposal, Council will also be running a campaign to promote Straddie as a location of choice for the “Best job in the world” promotion.

“This will include a Twitter campaign called #redlandsranger which will use social media to promote all that Straddie has to offer,” she said.

“We will invite residents to contribute to this campaign by sending photos of their favourite Straddie locations and events.”

For more information visit:
Council’s website www.redland.qld.gov.au
or facebook.com/redlandcouncil
or twitter.com/redlandcouncil