DR TOM’S GAMES HANGOVER CURE
‘I’LL DELIVER JOBS TO BEAT SLUMP’
THE Gold Coast’s “biggest jobs generating program” in decades will be unveiled as the “hangover cure” to a post Commonwealth Games economic slump.
And Mayor Tom Tate will take the message on the road this week in a bid to drum up business, keep cranes in the sky and Hollywood movies filming in local studios.
Civic leaders fear a post Games spike in unemployment and an economic downturn after the State Government canned the $3 billion ASF resort development on The Spit which would have created 13,000 jobs.
To compensate for the loss, business and city leaders have been lobbying developers who have already secured approval for their projects to fast-track work to begin in late 2018.
Cr Tate said “signature projects” would continue, with jobs to come from “cranes in the sky, fibre optic cables in the ground and cruise ships in the water”.
“Cranes will remain in the sky with several signature projects underway, to be finished in 2019 but we can’t rely on those projects alone,” he said.
“Post Games will be challenging but we have a plan and as Mayor, I will launch the biggest jobs-generating program from this council in decades. We will look at what civic infrastructure is needed and get it built and this will keep our Coast tradies busy.
I WILL LAUNCH THE BIGGEST JOBS-GENERATING PROGRAM FROM THIS COUNCIL IN DECADES. — MAYOR TOM TATE
“We also plan an interstate roadshow where I will outline our city’s vision in education, IT, fibre optics, health and knowledge, sport and naturebased tourism.”
Among the projects underway and due for completion following the Games are the $1.2 billion, 89-storey Spirit tower in central Surfers Paradise and the first highrise in the $1 billion, fourtower Ruby complex.
Civic projects under consideration are the second stage of the cultural precinct, the $500 million cruise ship terminal at The Spit and extending the light rail to Burleigh and beyond.
Mr Tate will launch his charm offensive this week when he flies to China for a four-day trip during which he will spruik the city as a place to invest.
“For all the investors who have already come here, they will reap the rewards for backing the city and for those who are on the bench, if ever there was a time to get off the bench and join the main game, it’s 2018 and beyond,” he said.
Sunland boss Dr Soheil Abedian said his company would stick with the Gold Coast and had more than $3 billion of development in the pipeline for the city post-2018.
These include the $1.1 billion Lakeview project on Bermuda St, the $700 million Greenmount resort redevelopment and a $200 million Hedges Ave tower.
“This city attracts a number of big businesses and I do not have any worry about what happens after the Games,” he said. “This is the best place in the world to live.”