PROMISES ARE JUST THE BEGINNING

Gold has come early for the Commonwealth Games host city.

When Annastacia Palaszczuk called the snap poll last month, the Gold Coast Bulletin asked you, our readers, for your top election priorities.

You told us loud and clear: Fix the crime, fix the M1, give us a new hospital and for God’s sake, give us a break on our power bills.

We responded with the Going for Gold campaign to fight on your behalf for the outcome this region deserves.

Rather than passively report on the scripted media ‘events’ planned by each major party’s spin doctors, we came at them with our own set of demands.

We weren’t shrill. We based our campaign on painstaking research, scouring the data available for each subject matter.

Going for Gold was so named for a few reasons. The most obvious was the reference to the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

The Games will be fantastic, but nobody wants an economic hangover.

At another level, it was a declaration of aspiration, for political candidates to wake up and realise this city’s extraordinary potential.

More than any other metropolis, the Gold Coast embodies ambition, a hunger for success.

That’s why we boast more small businesses and more entrepreneurs per capita than any major Australian city.

People come here to chase dreams. And as the one paper of this great city, so should we.

Now, two days before the election, we can claim some real and tangible victories for all Gold Coast residents.

We called for at least 50 extra cops: today, with the LNP pledge to more than match Labor, we got them.

We called for a real solution to the daily nightmare on the M1: the LNP has committed $500 million, matched by the Feds to duplicate the first state of this vital artery to Brisbane.

We called for a plan put in place for a new major hospital to address rapid growth in the city’s north: both parties have now agreed to this.

And finally we demanded relief on electricity bills. Both parties have agreed to this although we will not claim any credit until we see the savings in residents’ bank accounts.

These wins are a timely reminder of the power of our readers.

They show that when we harness your voices into a megaphone aimed at politicians desperate to get into Parliament, we get results.

It’s a leverage no other form of media can match.

That said, we recognise that the job is not done. To the contrary, the hard part is ahead of us. That is ensuring the politicians honour their commitments to you.

We’re on it.