Punch and duty show continues despite retirement
Destination Gold Coast co-founder and renowned solicitor John Punch has supported development in this city for decades, but fears we’re spoiling paradise by building too much on too little
FOR a city built on the back of tourism, our town plan is in danger of messing with the magic of our holiday vibe. It’s a word of warning from Destination Gold Coast cofounder, solicitor and 60-plus year resident John Punch, who has supported development in this city for decades, but now fears we’re building too much on too little – and ruining our resort environ ment. While the 76year-old – who was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his services to tourism, real estate and charity – retired just weeks ago from his 57-year career as a lawyer and founding partner of Short Punch Greatorix in Bundall, he simply does not know how to stop serving his city.
As the honorary secretary of Destination Gold Coast, he’s helped guide our tourism industry from the very first day the then-gold Coast Visitors Bureau was born in a backroom of the historic Lennons Broadbeach Hotel, to the strong and independent promoter of tourism to the city it is today.
And while he’s witnessed the highs of our high-rise booms and the lows of our economic busts – plus pandemic panic – it’s what’s happening at street level that has him worried. “I’ve always been very happy with highrise development and growth all along the Coast, but I think right now our town planning principles have got a bit lost,” says John. “We’re building 20storey towers on less than a quarter-acre of land and it’s changing the nature of the Coast.
We’ve always felt like a resort city but now we’re looking more urban.
“It’s not to my particular liking and I worry that it’s not to the liking of tourists, or residents, either. We’re competing with markets in Hawaii and Fiji that are full of greenery and space, we don’t want to just be a concrete city by the sea.
“Developers need to either buy more land or scale back their buildings. Too many developments now are just a tower with no facilities. Telling investors that the beach is your facility is a bit of a cop-out.
“Look at Focus on
The Esplanade, that’s the way to do it. It’s a big building but surrounded by pool and gardens.
“Yet next door to it is wallto-wall concrete with no facilities. That’s not a great way to entice investors, tourists or residents.”
John says while demand from would-be residents is greater than ever, there is still room to cater for a greater population without building out the coastline.
He says the city always has to balance itself between the demands of tourists and residents, many of whom rely on the tourism industry for their own jobs.
“I’ve been a lawyer all my life but I consider myself a second-tier beneficiary of the tourism industry. The legal work I’ve done, especially regarding the property industry, would not have been there without the growth of tourism to spur it on.
“I feel we have enough space in this city to still develop reasonably. People will still move here whether they’re living on the beachfront or not.”
In fact, John says while the beach will always be the city’s siren song, it’s also its spirit that has made it such a success.
He says the Coast has always attracted bold personalities and entrepreneurs … and he’s worked beside some of its most colourful characters.
It’s what brought his own family here from Melbourne in 1961, chasing a dream to build their lives bigger and better.
“The Gold Coast developed out of personalities, we’ve always cocked a snook at formalities and ideas that were outdated. That’s how we became the home of Pyjama Parties and the Beergarden in Surfers,” he says.
“People like (Seaworld founder) Keith Williams came along and nothing stood in his way … he welded people together and made things work.
“It’s always been a town of politicians and entrepreneurs. I’ve experienced them all – good and bad.
“In my time, we had (former Queensland ‘minister for everything’) Russ Hinze and (Premier) Sir Joh (BjelkePetersen). I have a great deal of admiration for them; I did Russ Hinze’s legal work for many years.
“The Fitzgerald Inquiry uncovered a lot of corruption, but in all my time working with Hinze, I saw him accomplish a lot of good. He was willing to look after everyone.
“Every Friday he would hold court in his office in Burleigh, his wife Faye would take appointments and anyone with a problem was welcome to go down there and have a session.
“If he didn’t think you were fair dinkum, he’d show you the door. But most of the time he’d pick up his phone and sort out your problem. He’d call the council or the government department and make your appointment right there and get it sorted for you.
“That’s the way the place operated, there was no HR or Workplace Health and Safety, but business got done and he got it done fast.
“Sir Joh was the same – you could get together with a group and go see him and he’d turn to the bureaucrats in the room and say ‘right, fix that’.
“They were extraordinary times. It’s much harder to get things done now – which is for better and for worse.”
However, John says Mayor Tom Tate is a throwback to that old mould - and the city has benefitted as a result.
“Whether you love him or not, he’s a do-er,” he says.
“Back in the ’90s, I served
People will still move here whether they’re living on the beachfront or not
as a director for The Arts Centre for nine years when we first moved to the idea of a freestanding art gallery, and we were constantly stymied. We had to fight for every dollar.
“What Tom and his council have achieved now at HOTA is exceptional.”
John says it was thanks to the city’s big personalities that Destination Gold Coast is now the tourism force that it is today.
He says Keith Williams was the first to recognise that the city needed to unite its tourism voices to promote itself as a destination.
As the then-president of the Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce, John was invited to join what soon became the Gold Coast Visitors Bureau.
“We needed a voice as the Gold Coast, the council back then was very Southportoriented. So Keith called together all of the people in the city making a go of the tourism industry.
“We met at Lennons hotel and decided to follow the model of the Hawaiian Visitors Bureau … but we had to get some money behind us.
“We struggled for a while with just subscriptions from members, but that was always going to be a finite source. We tried an art union with Joh’s approval but that didn’t fire either.
“Finally (tourism advocate) Sir Frank Moore came up with this formula for the state to help fund Tourism Queensland and out of that, with government help, we convinced council to help raise funds.
“It was quite revolutionary,
I don’t know of many parts of Queensland that have gone the same way. Now we have a turnover of $20-30m in destination marketing for the Gold Coast, we have a staff of 40 people and we’ve developed internationally.
“We don’t get too political, it’s not our role, we’re a marketing organisation … and long may we continue.”
John says the Gold Coast Visitors Bureau immediately drew up a wishlist for the city, which it eventually achieved, even if some projects like the convention centre took decades.
He says while his current wishlist is not formalised, there are still some big items he’s determined to see completed - including restoring Surfers Paradise to its former glory.
“In the old days we had a wishlist and we slowly worked through it – we wanted an international hotel, a bigger and better airport, street beautification, a casino, a convention centre … we made it all happen in the end.
“I think the push for street beautification never ends, but I would really love to restore Surfers to its tourism and trading glory. It’s deteriorated very badly, unfortunately.
“I think the light rail will be great for the city – probably more so even for residents than tourists.
“A cruise ship terminal I would accept if it was feasible, but we just don’t have a natural harbour.
“I think there is room for limited development in the Broadwater, but there has to be a balance between reasonable tourism promotion and a desire from locals to have a more natural environment … in fact, the two actually go hand in hand.
“We don’t have to rape the environment to get tourists.”
Even after Covid has written one of the toughest chapters for the city’s tourism industry, John is optimistic about our future.
“The pandemic has hit us harder than is apparent in many ways, but we’re coping with that.
“The promotion we’re now undertaking is very cleverly put together and will make sure we maintain our position. If anything, Covid has shown our roots are even deeper and stronger than we realised.
“The next chapter will be just as interesting for this city, we still have plenty more history to write.
“It’s time to show all of Australia, and the world, the spirit of this place.
“Only two cities have been developed in Australia since Federation – one is Canberra, the other is the Gold Coast. And we’re the ones who have done it best.”
As always, he packs a Punch.
The light rail will be great for the city – probably more so even for residents than tourists