FIGHTING FOR THE PROSPERITY OF OUR CITY
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here on the Gold Coast but study Las Vegas and Austin and implement their best bits to truly set us apart from the rest of the country
THERE are two cities in the United States that the Gold Coast’s best and brightest must go to and learn the tricks of their trade.
Right now, the Gold Coast is floundering. What is our identity? What is our shtick? What is it that sets us apart?
We can’t rely on tourism forever. With the Olympics a decade away, we must forge our own destiny to realise our huge potential. We must become a hybrid version of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Austin, Texas.
Both are cities on the move in America. Both are cities that we can learn from, whether it be economic, cultural or simply liveability.
Las Vegas brings the razzle dazzle and Austin provides the credible, strategic, measured outlook to transform the Gold Coast into a city with a soul.
First, Las Vegas, often referred to as Sin City, but a place where people go to have a good time, let their hair down and spend up.
Whether it’s a world title boxing fight, seeing Lady Ga Ga in concert or visiting the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas is a magnet.
Surely, it’s time the Gold Coast stepped up and developed a strategy around turning it into Australia’s boxing mecca.
Kiwi boxing promoter Dean Lonergan has relocated from Auckland to the Gold Coast to set up
Right now, the Gold Coast is floundering. What is our identity? What is our shtick? What is it that sets us apart?
big fights in Australia.
He was the man who brought us the legendary Jeff Horn upset over Manny Pacquiao in 2017 at a packed Suncorp Stadium.
He has heavyweight champion Justis Huni fighting here in May. But government and the council need to be on board.
Earlier this year superstar boxer Tim Tszyu was to fight on the Gold Coast, only to have the event cancelled and redirected to Sydney because of draconian Covid-19 conditions imposed upon promoters.
It was a classic case of bureaucratic overkill ending an event that would have pumped millions of dollars into the Gold Coast economy.
It also sent a message to promoters that Queensland is a tough place to do business. We need a strategy to attract world-class boxing to the city.
We also need a bigger entertainment centre – like Harvey Lister’s proposal to double the current Broadbeach venue – to attract the bigger acts.
Why don’t we have big rock acts like Rod Stewart doing residencies on the Gold Coast, like he does in Las Vegas?
It’s crazy to think it’s 2022
and we don’t have the necessary stadium infrastructure to prop up such big events.
Now to Austin, regarded as one of the most progressive cities in the United States.
It has become a magnet for New Yorkers and Californians who are sick to death of the “woke’’ policies being pushed down their throats by Democrat leaders.
The Gold Coast has the same phenomenon with Victorians, desperate to escape Dan Andrews, flocking in their thousands to the city.
Austin constantly tops polls in the United States as
America’s number one place to live – three years in a row now – with its sunshine, thriving economy and cultural scene.
Austin has a highly educated workforce and is home to the University of Texas, and it is now nicknamed Silicon Hills because so many tech companies are transferring from San Francisco. It costs $3197 a month to live in Austin, while it’s $5756 a month to live in San Francisco.
Apple is setting up a $1bn campus with 15,000 employees, while Google and Oracle have also set up offices.
Austin is also home to a
music festival called South of Southwest, which has transformed from an indie music gathering to the world’s most trendsetting music festival.
It has an entrepreneurship culture, especially for women. It’s said that plagiarism is the finest form of flattery. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here on the Gold Coast but study Las Vegas and Austin and implement their best bits.
The inertia gripping the city – fuelled by a Labor government that doesn’t give a rats – is dooming us to failure.