Rapid Response To Keep The Gold Coast Working

Community health must be the highest priority in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. These uncertain and extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures. I have been calling on the Premier since Tuesday to stop polling and switch to postal voting for the rest of the council election.

While the medical scientists are working on a vaccine and health departments are working to contain the contagion, our council needs multiple strategies and decisive action to help our community through this crisis.

As the second biggest council in Australia with a $1.7 billion annual operating budget, Gold Coast City Council has financial capacity to help our residents and businesses in times of need. As your next Mayor, I will act fast to respond to this situation.

1. I will introduce financial relief by discounting and extending the time for rates payments – for all residents
2. I will discount rates bills for owners of empty shops who give leases for periods longer than 18 months
3. I will reduce fees and charges for small business establishment and operation
4. I will cut red tape and regulations to accelerate creative, digital and sustainable enterprise in under-utilised industrial areas
5. I will accelerate infrastructure spending – to build tomorrow’s infrastructure today – including a massive investment to free up traffic congestion, something this council has ignored for the last decade
6. I will work with the Federal and State Governments to accelerate the multiple road and transport projects to fix the daily chaos on our M1
7. I will fully fund our city’s own Transport Strategy over the next decade – unlike Tom Tate who waves it around as an unfunded vision document
8. I will build the extensive, safe bikeway system that has been continually promised and never delivered – starting in our northern suburbs
9. I will focus on growing our tourism sector width incentives for new eco-friendly tourism
10. I will accelerate transformation of The Spit into an amazing coastal parkland
11. I will complete the Oceanway, one of the world’s great walks, and construct walking trails in our hinterland for everyone to get active and healthy in our great outdoors
12. I will speed up digital infrastructure delivery so that more people can work from home and localised co-working hubs

These are just a dozen of the many things I will do if you elect me as Mayor. This is not business as usual. We must create and commit to smart solutions to Keep the Gold Coast Working.