Brissy must open eyes and support the Coast
THE sun must shine directly into the eyes of all those who occupy Brisbane’s “Tower of Power’’. Despite the expensive motorised blinds adorning many of the tower’s impressive windows – some of them 12.5 metres high – it appears the denizens within apply blinkers when gazing south towards the Gold Coast.
How else to explain the strange attitudes displayed, which are so at variance with the experiences of the people who have made this extraordinary city their home.
In attempting to explain why her Government puts a duplicate M1, a cruise ship terminal or extra police for this town so far down its list of priorities, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wrote last week that Brisbane had already invested mightily in the Gold Coast in the shape of the $1.5 billion spent on the Commonwealth Games.
Writing this betrayed a total lack of understanding of our Games experience.
Yes, we loved the sporting action – in common with the nation as a whole.
Yes, we were proud to show off our fine city on a global stage.
But thanks in part to Government mismanagement, this was not an “investment” that has done wonders for everybody on the Coast.
For many small businesses, the Games were a nightmare. The usual Easter trade was scared off – a time of year almost as valuable to touristdependent restaurants and attractions as Christmas is to toy stores.
Many businesses have not recovered. Some have even closed.
As this paper has long argued, what this city needed post-Games was a surge of investment designed to ward off any kind of hangover.
But that’s not what we’re getting.
Any prospect of a cruise ship terminal has been kicked to the long grass of The Spit, parked behind a long-running “master planning’’ process.
This despite it being the one piece of infrastructure that could do most for local tourism, and the majority of residents being keen.
Although local businesses say the need is urgent, the duplicate M1, or “Coomera Connector’’, is similarly a long way down the road, stuck in its own slow-moving planning process. No arrival date has yet been set.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey told this newspaper its provision depended on future traffic growth. One wonders how much traffic needs to accumulate before he is convinced.
The powers that be in Brisbane could also enthusiastically back plans for a hinterland cableway, a dive site or move a government department south.
Such ideas usually meet with an encouraging response from Tourism Minister Kate Jones – the one Brisbanite who does appear to understand the Gold Coast – but from her boss there appears far less enthusiasm.
Instead Ms Palaszczuk trumpets the provision of schools, hospitals, long overdue road improvements and public transport, seeking gratitude for delivering the minimum services taxpayers expect their dollars to fund.
Even then, money is not always easily spent. It took serious injury to a student to see safe crossing points finally provided at Pimpama State Primary College. Other schools continue to wait for theirs.
The only idea which seems to have sparked any real interest on William St is the one for a second casino – unsurprising, given it’s a proposal from which the State Government could glean easy revenue.
But this city needs urgency in many other areas too. We need a package of measures, energetically and enthusiastically advanced to help the Gold Coast recover from the missteps of the Games and continue on the road to becoming the worldclass city we all know it can be.
They say that Labor is in with a real shot of picking up a swag of Coast seats at the next state election. What we are witnessing now is that opportunity being missed.
We need vision, not vacillation. The stock response that the Newman government also failed the Coast provides no comfort. Neither is it any reason for further failure now.
We need real action that shows this State Government understands the Gold Coast and eagerly believes in its future. It wouldn’t just be good for those of us who live here. The Gold Coast is Queensland’s economic engine room. What’s good for us is good for Brisbane too. These two cities, so close, should be allies, not rivals.
It’s time to take off the blinkers at William St and take a much closer look at what’s happening to the south. Yes, the sun shines brightest here, but the whole state can bask in the afterglow.