GOLD COAST BULLETIN

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

MAYOR Tom Tate, for the first time, admitted his political career was dead in the water unless he could convince a majority of councillors to back his cruise ship terminal project.

After almost two years of having complete control of voting by his 14 councillors, Cr Tate was privately furious on Monday after the Bulletin told him a majority of his colleagues would vote down the Broadwater Marine Project.

Looking tired after days of intense lobbying during which councillors admitted their fears about his top election promise, Cr Tate said he would not call an emergency meeting to save the project.

“It may cost me my job and if it does I will go do something else –

maybe reporting,” Cr Tate said.

Cr Tate staked his high-profile 2012 election campaign on a pro-business platform of delivering both a cruise ship terminal and cultural precinct.

The cruise ship debate promised to deliver his worst fears – hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted leaving no terminal and a divided council.

A huge shift in power is likely to result in a clear majority of councillors supporting a “take no

further role and thank the proponent’’ motion when the port is voted on at a full council meeting.

Council sources told the Bulletin they had “serious doubts’’ Cr Tate would have the necessary political capital to win the 2016 election if both the cruise ship terminal and Evandale Cultural Precinct projects fell over.

As of 2022, Cr Tate remains mayor and the cultural precinct was built, though the CST is still on ice.