Remember When

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004

Ray Stevens, the former Gold Coast mayor and then-failed State Liberal contender, was the favourite to take the job as key adviser to new Mayor Ron Clarke.

Mr Stevens was understood to be Mr Clarke’s preferred applicant for the well-paying job of executive assistant to the mayor.

Mr Stevens – who had represented a range of developments, including Naturelink – was said to be the standout, so far, in the eyes of Mr Clarke.

Mr Clarke had already appointed the former Labor lord mayor of Brisbane, Jim Soorley, as an adviser and as chairman of a new urban development committee.

Mr Stevens declined to comment on his application for the influential executive assistant’s position, but the news surprised many people both inside and out of the council.

It was understood d that h t previous i mayor Gary Baildon’s executive assistant, Bob Towson, was moving into the CEO’S office and Mr Stevens would fill his shoes, in a position that has the direct ear of the Mayor.

The job required the assistant to read council agendas and advise the Mayor on what was being argued by the bureaucrats, and to attend meetings on the Mayor’s behalf and advise him on the outcomes.

Since losing the mayoral job to Mr Baildon in 1997, Mr Stevens filled a number of roles with the development industry.

He acted as spokesman and lobbyist for the failed Naturelink cableway to Springbrook.

In 2004, he ran as a Liberal Party candidate for the state seat of Gaven but was unsuccessful in unseating Labor’s Robert Poole.

At the time, when asked whether he was pro-development, Mr Stevens said: “Definitely not. I’m sympathetic to environmental issues, but I’m not a ratbag environmentalist. I’m in favour of sustainable development, a vital concept in the fastest growing region in Australia.”

He had been a member of the Liberal Party for not quite three years and during the state campaign denied that the party was a flag of convenience for a personal campaign.

“The federal government has done a good job on employment and the economy and it is up to the state government to follow that example, but instead all we get are Peter Beattie’s promises and apologies,” he said.

Mr Stevens first met Cr Clarke as the new mayor of the amalgamated Gold Coast Council, when the former Olympian was developing the Couran Cove eco-resort on South Stradbroke Island.

Mr Stevens continued in the role until he successfully ran for state parliament in 2006 – a position that he still holds today.