SCHOOLIES FEARS – MP

Schoolies response fear

SURFERS Paradise MP JohnPaul Langbroek is warning the State Government it “can’t just walk away” from incoming schoolies after cancelling official events and leaving questions open about a safety response.

The State Government said “security arrangements are up to operators” on Friday after its decision but Mr Langbroek said he had questions about extra police support, accommodation refunds and if it was realistic to expect schoolies to socially distance.

They can’t just say, ‘That’s it, Schoolies is cancelled’ and wash their hands of the whole event. There’s a bunch who will come and wreak havoc.”

THE Queensland Government “can’t just walk away” from incoming schoolies after cancelling official events while not committing to a safety response, a fired-up Surfers Paradise MP says.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has axed the official celebrations due to COVID-19 fears, as a cluster linked to a Brisbane corrections facility continues to grow.

Advanced bookings have already been made and last week accommodation operators sought clarity around whether to keep taking them or not.

Ms Palaszczuk on Friday axed official state-supported events and her office said security arrangements were “up to operators”.

Mayor Tom Tate urged schoolies to stay home but said he was concerned they would turn up anyway.

Surfers Paradise MP JohnPaul Langbroek wants an explanation about how the “lastminute” cancellation would work.

“(The State Government) can’t just walk away from their responsibilities,” he said.

“It begs the question, whether the Chief Health Officer has to tell accommodation houses they can’t rent their rooms out.

“That’s what happened at the peak of the pandemic.

“They can’t just say, ‘that’s it, Schoolies is cancelled’ and wash their hands of the whole event.”

He said that while there had been a growing trend of better behaviour among schoolies in recent years, he was still deeply concerned about a wild minority.

“There’s a bunch of people … who will come and wreak havoc,” he said.

“They just won’t abide by any rules or regulations. Without any of the safety stuff, who knows what it’s going to end up like?

“Only the formal part has been cancelled. They’re saying, ‘You can celebrate, it’ll just be different’. Well for a lot of them it won’t be different.

“They’re not going to social distance, they’re not going to practise hand hygiene and they’re not going to stay home if they feel sick, because they’re hungover and feel sick every day.”

Mr Langbroek posted questions to social media at the weekend, asking about police support, accommodation refunds, if it was realistic to expect schoolies to abide by social distancing and other frontline services.

The Premier’s office replied: “We provided answers to exactly these questions on Friday.”

The cancellation has sparked concerns among the Gold Coast community who last year watched about 20,000 school-leavers partying.

Schoolies was scheduled for November 21-December 11.