The tourism industry's peak body appears to be a lone voice welcoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's promise to move naval assets from Sydney to Queensland, saying it opens up much-needed space for cruise liners.
NSW politicians and the Australia Defence Association have come out in chorus to oppose the plan.
Tourism and Transport Forum chief Ken Morrison said it was essential to move the cruise terminal to the naval precinct at Garden Island because Sydney desperately needs more berthing space.
"Cruising is the fastest growing part of the tourism industry and is predicted to generate $1 billion a year for the NSW economy by 2020," he said on Tuesday.
Sydney Business Chamber director Patricia Forsythe advocated a compromise.
She said naval and cruise ships sharing Garden Island would allow the cruise industry to continue to grow while "maintaining our strong historic and economic connections with the defence industry".
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says Mr Rudd's plan will "slash" thousands of jobs from the state's economy and he should have been consulted.
An irate premier spent much of Tuesday detailing the devastating impact of relocating the navy's east coast base to Brisbane.
"A phone call would've been helpful," Mr O'Farrell fired at Mr Rudd during a showdown in front of the cameras on the harbour foreshore.
The premier took up the fight again during question time, saying news of the move would have been "a devastating start to the day" for the 4000 people who work at the base.
Mr O'Farrell then urged the PM to "stop the selfies", referencing the Labor leader's immoderate use of his mobile phone on the campaign trail.
"These are not just for taking selfies. These are for calling premiers," Mr O'Farrell said.
"If he picked up the phone I could have stopped him from making a terrible mistake in this state."
Mr Rudd accused Mr O'Farrell of "huffing and puffing".
"The Royal Australian Navy is not Premier O'Farrell's property," he said in Brisbane later in the day.
"It is the property of the Australian government making national security decisions about where our defence assets should be located in the future."
Under Labor's strategic plan, the navy would be moved north over time, possibly to Townsville in northern Queensland and Brisbane.
Deputy NSW Premier Andrew Stoner accused the prime minister of ignoring the recommendations of his own defence experts.
"It's a terrible, terrible sign that he would ignore the expert advice, the White Paper, just to save his own skin," he told parliament.
The Australia Defence Association says Brisbane just isn't a viable option for the major naval base Mr Rudd is proposing.
The lobby group's executive director Neil James said Brisbane was on a flood-prone river which opened onto a large shallow bay.
"You'd have to build the base and then you would have to dredge a whole lot of channels separate to the commercial shipping channels. You'd have to dredge them in perpetuity and the environmental and financial costs would be massive," he said. "It is just not a viable option for a major base."
