COUGH IT UP, GOLDOC

NEWS the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games has come in $35 million under budget provides GOLDOC with a perfect opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

There’s no denying the disruption the Games caused our city was a fatal blow for some small businesses. Indeed, the city is still recovering from the loss in trade many local businesses were powerless to stop.

GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie’s revelation GOLDOC would return at least $35 million in savings and up to $38m to State Government presents organisers with a chance to right some of the decisions they admit, with hindsight, they got wrong.

Mr Beattie was widely panned when he told Gold Coasters concerned about forecast traffic jams in the lead-up to the Games to “suck it up”. Asked yesterday if he regretted those comments, Mr Beattie said “what’s done is done”.

The blunt phrase has been cited by many Gold Coasters as the reason they left town — and helped turn the city into a ghost town — during the Games.

Now, six months later, it’s time for Mr Beattie and GOLDOC to ‘cough it up’.

GOLDOC’s financial position means it is well placed to help make amends for the negative impact the Games had on some sections of our community — and the Gold Coast’s reputation as a must-visit destination that knows how to throw a party.

GOLDOC’s $35 million budget windfall should be used to help right fallout from the things it — and chairman Beattie — got wrong in their roles overseeing the Games.

As for GOLDOC CEO Mark Peters’ $300,000 bonus, if he loves his new hometown as much as he and Mr Beattie (“he’s a good Gold Coaster”) profess, perhaps he could take a leaf out of the book of ‘father of the Gold Coast’ Sir Bruce Small — the former mayor and State member for Surfers Paradise who famously donated all his mayoral wages from three terms in office to local charities. The city would be more than honoured to accept a cheque for $300,000 from Mr Peters for a Games legacy item that will continue to deliver benefits to the local economy.