BATTLE BEST FOR THIS CITY

THERE’S no doubt that May’s federal election will be one which sets the course for the nation heading into the next decade.

Both the Coalition and Labor know it will be won or lost in Queensland, and both are scrambling for every vote they can get.

But other than the far north seat of Forde, the Gold Coast is not what most political commentators would describe as a ‘battleground’.

Until today.

Liberal Party pre-selection candidate Karly Abbott’s warning to fellow members that the Gold Coast was a ‘battleground’ is startling given that this city has traditionally been a conservative heartland.

The false modesty of our politicians aside, there is such a thing as a safe seat and the Coast has always been that way for the conservatives.

So what does this mean?

Mayor Tom Tate, a long-time rival of retiring MP Steve Ciobo says the Gold Coast has been taken for granted by the conservatives.

Our MPs will be fast to point out the millions in funding the Coalition has put forward for major Coast infrastructure projects in the near four years since the removal of Tony Abbott as prime minister.

These include stages two and three of the light rail as well as the widening of the M1.

These are indeed commendable and welcome projects.

But there is also no doubt that the Coast’s seats either being under threat or becoming increasingly marginal could also have a positive impact by creating more competition between our two major parties to whet the appetites of voters.

Just look at previously safe Liberal seats such as Mr Abbott’s own Warringah which is now at the centre of a battle which the party would have preferred to avoid directing resources at to sandbag it against a challenge.

Whether a high-profile centrist candidate in the mould of Kerryn Phelps pops up to contest our Coast seats or disrupts the political paradigm will be known within weeks.

While polls have Labor ahead nationally, there’s still plenty of time between now and polling day and the Gold Coast it seems could end up playing a more critical role than previously believed.

The Gold Coast is Australia’s sixthlargest city and the tourism capital of the nation and should never been taken for granted by any political leader or have its seats viewed as a sinecure.

The Gold Coast is worth fighting for. Let the battle begin.