2032 Olympic Games Gold Coast: Council’s $270,000 announcement party criticised by ratepayers as ‘waste of money’
Mayor Tom Tate is facing a backlash from ratepayers angry at council’s decision to spend $270k on an Olympics party. HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Gold Coast
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MAYOR Tom Tate is facing a backlash from Gold Coast ratepayers who’ve labelled his decision to spend $270,000 on an Olympics “pre-party” a “bloody waste of money”.
The celebration is set to be held at Kurrawa Parklands on July 21, when the successful bidder for 2032 is announced from Japan. The event will include live entertainment and fireworks, while sporting competitions from the Tokyo Games are beamed live.
But not everyone is celebrating, with residents suggesting the money could be better spent helping the city’s homeless, fixing roads and supporting the multicultural community.
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Councillor Tate has also been accused of “being out of touch with the ratepayer” after announcing the party at the same time as increasing rates by an average of 2.5 per cent.
Detractors include ex-Supercars driver Russell Ingall whose tweeted response was: “That explains why my council rates have just gone up.”
Narelle Taylor agreed. “They are increasing our council rates so why not throw a party … ridiculous,” she said. “I hope people do not support this ridiculous waste of our money”.
Justin Guilfoyle said: ‘We all know we’re going to get it, no other country in the world is bidding on this, just more waste of taxpayers dollars”.
The timing of a large gathering during a pandemic was questioned by Corey Schimmler, saying it would just take one person to get Covid-19 and then a “large number of cases would pop up”.
“But come on, there a million other things that money could be used for and actually make a difference to the Gold Coast …” he said.
Callam Topp suggested the $270,000 would be better spent cleaning up the Coast and helping the homeless find housing, while Richard said the mayor had “no right to spend thousands of dollars of our money hoping to get the Olympics”.
“We have roads that are in dire need of repair and upgrades and you want to waste it on a possible non event. It’s disgusting,” he said.
Ben Brauer said he was disappointed the mayor would spend $270,000 on an “Olympics preparty” yet offered “zero” dollars to support the Gold Coast Multicultural Community’s annual Gold Coast Multicultural Festival.
“Over 40 per cent of Gold Coast residents were either born overseas or have a family connection to overseas cultures,” said the multicultural festival’s director.
Last year Mr Bauer asked the council for a $20,000 grant to help fund the event, saying the festival had to be held in the 2020 calendar year for the State Government funding to continue for 2021. The request was denied and the event did not run.
MAYOR ANNOUNCES MASSIVE GOLD COAST OLYMPICS PARTY June 22, 2021
by Andrew Potts
A GOLD Coast City Council decision to spend more than $270,000 on a party to celebrate southeast Queensland potentially securing the 2032 Olympic Games, and broadcasting live action from Tokyo, has divided business leaders.
The money will pay for a celebration at Kurrawa Parklands on July 21, when the successful bidder for 2032 is announced from Japan, and live entertainment, fireworks and sporting competitions as the Tokyo Games are beamed live.
‘DELIGHTED’: SURPRISE REDEVELOPMENT OF HISTORIC SITE
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Hospitality bosses welcomed the plan, saying community support would be critical to the success of the Games. Business leaders said it was a waste of money.
Artesian Hospitality partner Matt Keegan, whose stable includes Surfers Paradise bar-restaurants White Rhino and Surfers Pavilion, said activations helped hospitality, “bringing in people from other areas who might not otherwise be drawn into the entertainment precincts”. “Our perspective is more is more,” he said.
However, both the Gold Coast central and north chambers of commerce felt the money would be better spent on supporting small business.
Central chamber president Martin Hall said he wished the funding had gone towards luring more major events to the city.
“Spending the better part of half-a-million dollars on this may not go down all that well given many small businesses are desperate for stimulus,” he said.
North chamber president Gary Mays said he saw little sense in the event.
“I like the concert but they were not embraced by the public during the Commonwealth Games and I doubt they will this time,” he said.
“I don’t see it as a good spend of money.”
REVEALED: DEVASTATING BLOW TO COAST PROPERTY INDUSTRY
Gold Coast Restaurant Industry Support Association president Glen Day agreed: “Council is spending a lot of money on that sort of thing (the party) when they could spend it on small businesses.”
Mayor Tom Tate insisted it was worthwhile to mark the moment that the southeast becomes an Olympic host.
“This is a chance to witness history if we do get the green light,’’ he said.
“Gold Coasters love a party so we are investing funds from our City reserves to host a ‘live site’ party at Kurrawa from July 21, to capture the live announcement.”
Council funded a similar event in November 2011 when the city was announced as the host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Live sites were also operated throughout that event.
Originally published as 2032 Olympic Games Gold Coast: Council’s $270,000 announcement party criticised by ratepayers as ‘waste of money’
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