TATE’S COVID SOS LETTER MET BY MP SILENCE

MAYOR Tom Tate has sent a Covid please help letter to the Federal Treasurer and all Gold Coast federal MPs calling for tourism and aviation funding – only to be greeted by silence.

Cr Tate’s letter, sent to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Moncrieff MP Angie Bell, McPherson MP Karen Andrews and Fadden MP Stuart Robert, was written on August 2.

City Hall did not expect to get an immediate commitment from the Treasurer, given his busy schedule, but the lack of response from the MPs has been surprising.

The Bulletin understands tourism leaders are following the Mayor’s lead, working on getting a phone hook-up with both Mr Frydenberg and possibly Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick.

Councillor Tate in his letter had welcomed initiatives such as JobKeeper and JobSeeker, describing them as a financial lifeline.

“The current lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne, and now southeast Queensland however, have added a new and most troubling dimension to the crisis and I seek your support again, particularly for our tourism and aviation sectors,” the Mayor wrote.

The Sydney and Melbourne markets had been lost to the Coast and showed no sign of returning in the short to medium term, he added.

The Queensland government’s current lockdown in the southeast had scuttled any chance of the Melbourne market returning soon, with “travel unrealistic for the vast majority”.

Cr Tate said the Coast had now lost the Brisbane drive market.

“I fear this latest setback may be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back for some,” he wrote.

The Mayor’s big fear was businesses will close and tourism employees will turn their backs on the industry.

Occupancy rates had dropped to below 20 per cent and the Gold Coast Airport was operating at 10 per cent of normal capacity.

Cr Tate assured the Commonwealth that he was urging Gold Coasters to get vaccinated but this could take three to six months.

“I urge the federal government to consider urgent support packages for the tourist and aviation sectors, so they can remain viable through the pandemic and ensure the Gold Coast can bounce back in 2022,” he wrote.

Some business leaders are questioning the strength of the voices of the Coast’s federal MPs.

Ms Andrews, a Cabinet Minister, is on a 12.2 per cent margin; Mr Roberts, also a senior Minister, enjoys a 14.2 per cent margin in Fadden; and Ms Bell, a backbencher, has a 15.4 per cent margin in Moncrieff.

A tourism consultant told the Bulletin: “Maybe this is why the Gold Coast is not even on the Treasurer or the PM’s mind and hopes of a return of JobKeeper fall on deaf ears.

“Not one of the seats will fall at the next election, so we are ‘the forgotten people’.”