Bar boss call for program expansion

THE head of the Surfers Paradise nightclub lobby is calling on authorities to provide more entertainment for week two of Schoolies, claiming those teens are left to their own devices.

Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association president Tim Martin said week two – with heavier numbers of Victorian and New South Wales Schoolies aged 18 – should have as many activities and live acts as a packed week one.

“For week one there is a full program. Week two there is not. But most of these people have still just barely turned 18,” Mr Martin said.

“We need to focus on them as young adults and not just throw them out into the real world because they are 18 and say ‘You are on your own’.

“We need to create a better response and support over the two weeks.”

Week one of Schoolies kicks off this Saturday for Queenslanders, typically attracting thousands of 17 and 18 year olds to Surfers Paradise to mark graduating school. A free beach festival goes for seven nights run by Queensland State Government’s Department of Communities.

But it stops in week two. Private operator Cross Promotions teams up with the Schoolies.com booking operation to hold a two-night concert on the beach with live acts.

Mr Martin, who manages nightclubs Sin City and The Bedroom, said the drop in entertainment in week two because most Schoolies were 18 sent the wrong message: “What it says is ‘You’re 17, do all these activities but at 18 just go to the clubs’. What are we teaching these kids?”

He said policing and services were still strong in week two but the aim should be to give an incredible tourism experience, prompting return visits in their 20s and when grown up with families.

Cross Promotions owner Billy Cross has pitched State Government to run a 10-day Schoolies festival.

Mr Cross said his vision was to partner with Schoolies.com and turn the fortnight into something the city was proud of: “We should be embracing Schoolies, it’s a rite of passage.”