WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN SECRET MEETING
Gold Coast Mayor accused of ‘abandoning tourism industry’
FUMING Gold Coast small business operators say Mayor Tom Tate has “let us down” and “deserted” tourism for backing the Premier’s ongoing Queensland border closure.
The city’s business lobby head also expressed “surprise” and “frustration” at Cr Tate’s support of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s decision to keep the state border blocked despite the Prime Minister, Federal Tourism Minister and a top federal medical adviser all questioning it.
Cr Tate – who says he wants the border reopened only when it is “safe” – stunned operators who make up the city’s $6 billion-a-year tourism industry when he said on Tuesday “I back the Premier”.
Ms Palaszczuk is following health advice that calls a September reopening “realistic” but not guaranteed. She has called a July 10 reopening “highly unlikely” in a bid to halt the coronavirus pandemic.
Desperate business owners are begging for the border to be reopened and restrictions eased to stop them going to the wall. Thousands of Gold Coasters have already lost their jobs and tourism leaders say the economy is on the brink of collapse.
The Mayor’s support for the Premier came after Ms Palaszczuk and Tourism Minister Kate Jones visited Cr Tate and seven city leaders who pushed for a border reopening.
Costa D’Oro restaurant owner Michael Fusco, whose 30-year-old eatery has slashed staff, said of the Mayor: “He has let us down. I can’t believe it. He’s a deserter, he’s left us high and dry.”
Broadbeach’s Mamasan restaurant owner JP Duitsch said: “I was surprised and definitely disappointed. I thought he was pro-Gold Coast and pro-tourism, but keeping the border shut is holding all that up.”
Aquaduck operator Sarah Colgate said: “He has been a great mayor but he’s just abandoned the whole tourism industry. We’ve always felt he has stuck by business owners and we don’t understand why he has done what he has done.”
Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall, who was at Tuesday’s meeting, said of the Mayor’s backing of the Premier border block: “Surprised me. Frustration is a word I would use – the pressure needs to be consistent and from all angles.”
Other city leaders at the meeting yesterday expressed “shock” and “surprise” to the Bulletin at the Mayor’s stance.
The Bulletin put the criticism to the Mayor’s office. In response, he said: “I always put safety first and have throughout this entire crisis. That position has never faltered.”
The Bulletin also asked what he wanted to say to bleeding operators and at what point he felt economic hardship and those impacts overrode perceived risk of the virus. On Tuesday, he said the border block was a “huge price to pay but we really do not have a choice”.
Cr Tate also called on Scott Morrison to extend $1500-afortnight JobKeeper from September’s expiry to December.
Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young sent shockwaves through the Glitter Strip last week saying a July border reopening could occur if everything went “perfect” and a September reopening was “more realistic” – but she could not guarantee that.
Ms Palaszczuk said this week she was having “sleepless nights” on the economy but would not be bullied into reopening it. She cited hundreds of active COVID-19 cases in NSW and added: “I want to get people back into work as soon as possible but if I don’t do it safely it would cripple our industry for years to come.”
Ms Palaszczuk is understood to be considering easing some restrictions such as internal state flights, a 150km limit on travel and hospitality limits.
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson is giving Ms Palaszczuk until today to reopen borders or plans to lead a constitutional High Court challenge.
No new coronavirus cases were recorded yesterday on the Gold Coast.