Kings and lobby queen
Gold Coast political adviser working on new Tweed Hospital campaign
A KEY Gold Coast lobbyist is working with a new campaign to change the site of the controversial new Tweed Hospital.
Simone Holzapfel (pictured), a former long-time adviser to Tony Abbott and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, and her company, Shac Communications, have been hired to help lobby the NSW Government to build the $534 million hospital at Kings Forest and not Cudgen.
Ms Holzapfel confirmed to the Bulletin she had been asked by Kingscliff real estate agent Louise Beahan to help with the campaign. She referred all questions to Ms Beahan.
“I am doing it for some Kingscliff locals that want the hospital (at Kings Forest),” Ms Holzapfel said. “I built a website for Louise and that’s it. I was introduced to Louise through a friend.”
Ms Holzapfel has been linked to the Gold Coast’s biggest developments in the past, having worked for Sunland, the ASF consortium involved in the Broadwater cruise ship terminal, the Jewel developers and Sheraton Mirage owners.
She was last year called as a witness to a Crime and Corruption Commission hearing into the 2016 Gold Coast City Council elections.
She said her company was paid by a number of candidates to work on their campaigns.
In mid-2013, Ms Holzapfel donated $114,000 in 12 payments to Federal MP’s Stuart Robert’s “Fadden Forum’’ ahead of the federal election.
There was no suggestion of wrongdoing by Ms Holzapfel.
The kingsforesthospital.com.au campaign was launched last Friday. It wants the hospital to be built at Kings Forest Estate, a development spruiked by the Leda Group, owned by billionaire developer Bob Ell. It will be home to 11,000 people.
“Yes, the Tweed Valley needs a new hospital, but not at the expense of local farmers or the local community,” the website reads. A full-page ad also appeared in Saturday’s Tweed Daily News.
A new hospital is badly needed to replace the 220-bed Tweed Hospital. However, where it should be built is polarising the community.
After looking at more than 30 sites, the NSW Government recommended the hospital be built on Cudgen Rd, Kingscliff.
The Tweed Council and some residents opposed the decision, saying the land was premier farming land.
The NSW Government is giving the community until June 15 to propose an alternative site.
Ms Beahan owns land near the proposed Cudgen site and is also the real estate agent responsible for selling lots for the proposed Kings Forest Estate.
She said Cudgen Rd was home to prime agricultural land and residents had bought their properties there without plans for a new hospital.
Ms Beahan said Leda had given her approval to launch the campaign and had provided some funding along with many other people.