The question we should ask
“IT’S only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked.”
So said legendary investor Warren Buffett.
He meant, of course, that when the economic tide unexpectedly goes out, we soon find out who is most exposed.
The economy on the Gold Coast, as it is globally, is most definitely turning sour at the moment.
Thousands of casual employees in tourism and hospitality face a long period without work.
There is little anyone here can do about it. We cannot make the flights resume. We cannot eradicate the nasty coronavirus.
But we can plan for the future. We can think about how we bounce back strongly when the crisis eases.
And somewhat fortuitously, we get the opportunity to think about all these things in an election year.
There will be many issues on the minds of voters when they go to the polls in the council election and Currumbin by-election on
March 28, and in the state election later this year.
But given the times we are living through, the economy should be the first concern.
What can the various candidates offer our fellow citizens who suddenly find themselves out of work, cast adrift in a storm not of their making?
In the council election, too much of the debate revolves around what people are against. The moaners and the groaners are making the most noise.
Few, I’ll bet, live pay cheque to pay cheque. Few know what it means to fear being out of work.
They rail against cruise ships, against a Hinterland cableway, even against the light rail.
In fact, against just about anything that would bring employment to tradies, that would deliver more tourists in future to ailing cafes and restaurants.
Very rarely do these people ever say what they are for. Never do they say what their plan is to boost our economy, to help those in casual employment or seeking a job secure a better future in this city.
But it is the one question we should ask. What is your plan to boost the economy? What will you work to deliver to help this city and its citizens recover strongly when the bitter chill of recession has passed?
This does not mean every development must win approval. Some of what has been built and is proposed for Palm Beach, for example, is beyond ugly and, in the long term, will do no one much good.
Division 13 candidate Bern Young is on the right road when she proposes creating a Palm Beach precinct under state planning laws, similar to The Spit masterplan.
This column would argue that such an initiative is needed to manage development intelligently, but not squash it completely.
And certainly not to throw a spanner in the works of extending light rail to the airport, which would be of obvious benefit to the tourism industry.
Plans for a boutique concert venue also deserve fullthroated support. Those who claim we already have enough venues miss the point. Metricon and the Cbus were built for sport, the Convention Centre for conventions. We don’t have a decent music venue on the Gold Coast of the sort that would ensure the likes of Queen visit every few weeks instead of every few years, and fill our hotels and bars and restaurants in the process.
As for cruise ships, although I’m not a big fan myself (even before the present crisis, they always appeared to me to be floating Petri dishes), why would you not want thousands of cashed-up tourists delivered to the Gold Coast each week? If it’s at all feasible, let’s do it.
Listening to a lot of what is said, you’d swear nobody agreed with any of this. But a goldcoastbulletin.com.au poll 11 days ago showed 57 per cent of our subscribers would like to see a cruise ship terminal, with 43 per cent against, from 571 responses. Unscientific, yes, but consistent with many other polls we have run.
It is entirely legitimate to oppose any or all of these things. But to my mind, only if you can put forward real, solid, job-creating alternatives. It’s not good enough to just oppose anything and everything. What are you in favour of that will help those people looking at an uncertain future?
What will you fight for to restart the engine of our economy once this blows over?
That’s the question we should be asking all candidates in the upcoming council and state elections.
How candidates answer will reveal a lot. It’ll tell us which of them has taken to the choppy waters of these elections properly prepared, and which are swimming naked.