New push for State to tick off on courts

GOLD Coast leaders are attempting a new strategy to get permanent a Family and Supreme court for the city.

Calls have been growing for a permanent court to ease pressure pressure on the justice system and stop the long trail of Gold Coast families having to travel to Brisbane.

Mayor Tom Tate admitted there was a lack of political will from the State Government for the court but said he would try a different strategy to try and make it happen.

“I wrote to the State Government in June 2017 but it is clear their appetite for a Supreme Court and family court facility on the Coast is not strong at this point,” he said.

“Council chief executive Dale Dickson will lead highlevel discussions with the relevant State Director-General later this month and I remain optimistic we will get an appropriate Supreme Court and family law court facility for our city.

“Gold Coasters nothing less.’’

Pressure has built on the State Government to act and create a dual supreme and family court to help deal with a growing number of cases.

The Gold Coast Bulletin last year reported nearly 100 domestic violence orders are being issued every week on the Glitter Strip and the city’s overloaded justice system is struggling to cope.

The city’s top legal minds and civic leaders say state and federal governments need to stop treating the Gold Coast like a small country town and provide resources to better deserve cope with society’s needs.

They argue a Family Court would ease the burden on domestic violence matters as parents in custody disputes are waiting about five months to have their cases heard. The closest Family Court is in Brisbane.

But the State Government says its position remains unchanged.

“The Chief Justice decides when and where court circuits are, based on demand,” a spokeswoman for AttorneyGeneral Yvette D’Ath said.

“There are no plans for a permanent Supreme Court on the Gold Coast.”

Cr Tate has previously offered the council-owned Mal Burke Carpark in Southport as a potential redevelopment site to create a family and supreme court. The carpark sits opposite the existing courthouse.

The Mayor announced in October last year that council officers would draw up plans for the project, earmarked for the Hind St site, in order to stir interest from the State.

The Mayor has also proposed a Gold Coast version of Brisbane’s so-called “Tower of Power’’, which he says could be built on the site of the existing Southport Library and Athol Paterson Carpark.

This highrise, expected to be worth between $80-300 million, would house council bureaucrats and locally based State Government workers.

Figures provided to the Bulletin show 14 State agencies are spread across 48 separate tenancies on the Gold Coast, for a total floor space of 29,000sq m.