OPERATION GLITTER REBOOT

Premier, here are some facts to consider as you make your way down the M1 today to talk to desperate business and tourism operators:

The Gold Coast is the small business capital of Australia and responsible for almost a quarter of the state’s $25b tourism empire … and you’re $90b in the red.

At least 23,000 Gold Coasters lost their jobs in April. It is expected to be worse this month.

Tens of thousands of other workers had hours cut or were put on subsidies.

Tourism leaders say our economy is in ‘dire straits’ and ‘on the edge of collapse’.

Businesses are going to the wall and now you say a ‘realistic’ reopening of the border is three months away.

States with far worse COVID records will allow 50 people into restaurants and clubs from next week. We can have 20 from June 12, if we’re good.

We had no new coronavirus cases yesterday.

AUSTRALIA’S small business ombudsman has asked Annastacia Palaszczuk to explain “what are we waiting for” ahead of the Premier’s expected visit to the Gold Coast today.

Kate Carnell joined a chorus of Coast business leaders and traders furious with the premier’s announcement in the past week that the Queensland/NSW border may not open until September.

That is two months later than flagged in the state’s three-stage rollout and comes as many Coast and northern NSW businesses struggle for survival.

The Premier is set to meet with leaders from across the Gold Coast today, although whether she intends to meet with the men and women at the coalface remains to be seen.

Ms Carnell, who as the small business ombudsman acts as an independent advocate on behalf of the sector, said the border “has to open”.

She said Queenslanders had done a terrific job in flattening the curve and NSW has had “very, very few” cases recently.

“I understand why it closed … we were trying to get the virus under control,” she said.

“The only two states that have had any new ones are NSW and Victoria and they have been six and seven, hardly any.

“So, the question would be what are we waiting for?”

Ms Carnell said small businesses needed a definite timeline to work towards regarding the lifting of the border closure.

“A lot of them are saying ‘we don’t know if we can survive’.

“People are not even booking for Christmas because no one has a sense of where things will be up to. So, this is really destabilising and I think we have got to think seriously about these little businesses and give them confidence of a timeline they can manage.”

Ms Carnell said business would need to live with the effects of the virus for a long time to come.

“As we open up more there will be cases. The issue is we have to keep those to a minimum. We have to manage social distancing, wash our hands, all that stuff. But we have to open up the economy as well. People need jobs. The economy needs to get up and running.”

Ms Palaszczuk yesterday announced no new cases in the state in the past 24 hours, on the same day all Queensland schoolchildren returned to the classroom for the first time in five weeks.

A spokesman for the Premier said the state should know whether the border would reopen as soon as this weekend.

“The decision is reviewed at the end of each month. The end of this month is this weekend,” he said. “All restrictions are reviewed in line with the CHO’s advice and how well the virus is being contained. So far, so good.”

The spokesman referred to the government’s already announced $6 billion stimulus, when asked about any new funding for the Coast.

Gold Coast business operators last week asked the Premier to visit the Coast so she can

PEOPLE NEED JOBS. THE ECONOMY NEEDS TO GET UP AND RUNNING.

KATE CARNELL

she their pain first-hand.

Thousands have lost their jobs and many businesses are on the brink of collapse as the small business capital and tourism mecca struggles with the pandemic.

NSW will ease restrictions from next week to allow 50 people into restaurants and clubs. Only 10 are allowed in Queensland.

Asked who the Premier would visit while on the Coast, the spokesman said: “We don’t reveal the Premier’s movements and we haven’t said she is coming tomorrow.”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate will meet with the Premier today and said he wanted answers about when borders would reopen as well as economy-boosting infrastructure projects. “I’m very pleased that the Premier is coming to the Gold Coast to hear from the horse’s mouth what is happening in our city,” he said.

“There are a number of issues I will be speaking to her about including the latest advice on when borders will reopen and what projects the State can help us fast-track.”

Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan said he would raise a range of issues, including the borders.

“Obviously, I’ll be asking about what everyone else is talking about – the border closures,” he said.”

THE Gold Coast will get a first-hand glimpse of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s crisis management skills today when she visits the city. Not so much in her pow-wow with familiar faces at a top-end-of-town meeting, but whether she has the courage to face the desperate business owners and staff severely hit by the coronavirus crisis.

Many of them are on the brink of collapse and all know colleagues or mates who have lost their jobs or had hours slashed. Some are feeding them just to get by.

Angry business leaders threw down the challenge to the Premier late last week. They asked she visit to feel their pain after her shock admission that September was a more “realistic” date for the reopening of the NSW border. The announcement stunned traders who had been working on a July 10 road map.

They were furious she declined to explain where the September date came from and clarify a later remark that tourism would bounce back. Fuel was poured on that fury at the weekend when Ms Palaszczuk admitted she would always act on the advice Chief Medical Officer Dr Jeannette Young and her nonchalant response to NSW allowing 50 people to visit restaurants and clubs when Queensland could have only 20 from June 12.

Traders cannot understand why Queensland has to wait weeks, without an explanation, for restrictions to ease while states with worse COVID records are opening their doors.

That is why today is so important. Ms Palaszczuk has a reputation among critics for failing to be a ‘premier of the people’, particularly on the Gold Coast. She has been criticised for willingly attending press conferences and cutting ribbons with A-listers, but ignoring the plight of hard-working mums and dads who pay her wages.

It happened again on Saturday when she visited the Gold Coast for an announcement with film director Baz Luhrmann. Ms Palaszczuk and her entourage stopped at Southport Yacht Club and then went home, ignoring the pleas of thousands of businesspeople on the Coast.

Similarly, she was caught out by the Bulletin at the start of the coronavirus crisis in February when she visited the Coast to tour a school. Tourism and business leaders reeling from the global freefall did not know she was in town.

Today, Ms Palaszczuk needs to walk Griffith St in Coolangatta, Cavill Ave in Surfers Paradise, the Broadbeach Mall, visit Robina and Southport, and eye the out-of work families in the city’s north, many of them Kiwis who inject millions of dollars into the economy through taxes but are ineligible for COVID-19 subsidies.

We are not talking about a pre-organised smile-and-greet with one of the few business owners doing all right during the pandemic.

The Premier may cop grief from honest, street-smart traders who do not agree with her rhetoric, and her advisers will choke on the thought of her doing it. It is not in the PR manual. However, she will earn the respect of many Gold Coasters for showing decency in the face of adversity.

It is time to front up to those workers on their knees financially and earn the appreciation of the people who matter.