NOT THE TIME FOR INACTION

IT’S said that a week is a long time in politics but four months is an eternity for the Gold Coast tourism industry, especially right now.

The past three weeks have been devastating as the coronavirus crisis has stripped at least half a billion dollars out of the economy and got business owners slashing hours for casual staff as they figure out what to do next. And it’s not exactly smooth sailing for the construction and development industry either.

At Christmas the Bulletin reported that plumbing applications, the key precursor to building works beginning, had fallen by 69.5 per cent in the same quarter year-onyear. There are plenty of mums and dads out there wondering just how steady work is going to be this year and beyond.

That’s why it is critical that both The Star and the State Government step up and come to a decision on the future of the global tourism hub concept.

It’s been nearly a year since the State Government went to an expressions of interest campaign on the project and four months since exclusive talks began with The Star.

There’s been precious little to show publicly at least for the four months of talks and there’s not an answer on the horizon.

It’s natural that business leaders such as Gold Coast Central Chambers of Commerce boss Martin Hall have had enough.

It’s time for action and for the Coast’s economy to be stimulated.

We cannot afford more wasted time with more hot air and impotent soundbites about wanting investment on the Coast while doing nothing about it. With a potentially line-ball by-election in the Gold Coast seat of Currumbin in just five weeks it is natural the State may be playing cautious and not wanting to upset the locals with a big call. But now is in fact precisely the time for a bold move that shows our political leaders are serious about keeping the state’s economic engine room alive.

Fortune favours the bold, and the opposite is true as well.