‘You’re on your own, Tom’: Coast mayor’s lockdown slapdown

Tom Tate has this morning continued to call for the Gold Coast to be released from lockdown even as the Glitter Strip was exposed to the latest Delta cluster.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has appeared on morning TV to renew his calls for the Glitter Strip to be released from lockdown, even after a local restaurant was exposed to the latest Delta cluster.

Cr Tate on Monday came under fire from fellow South East Queensland civic leaders after sensationally calling for the lockdown to be lifted on the largely Covid-free Glitter Strip.

This morning, Cr Tate appeared on Sunrise declaring that the Gold Coast should not be in lockdown and a “steel ring” needed to be put in place around Brisbane.

Only moments earlier, it was confirmed that a popular Southport restaurant had been added to an updated list of Covid-19 exposure sites on the Gold Coast.

Anyone who was at Kua Thai Isan Traditional Thai Restaurant at Southport’s Sungold Arcade from 12.30pm to 2pm on July 30 is asked to quarantine at home immediately and to get tested as soon as possible.

Within hours of the South East’s three-day lockdown being extended until Sunday, Cr Tate said the Coast should be exemptbecause of a lack of cases and exposure sites in his city linked to the latest outbreak.

He said the Coast was suffering because of the Brisbane outbreak, with the tourism and aviation industries “on their knees”.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. Picture: Mike Batterham

“I understand the State Government has extended the lockdown until Sunday based on data,” he said.

“Well, the data does not show any cases here on the Gold Coast. So, I would say, I want them to leave the Gold Coast out of the 11 LGAs (southeast Queensland local government areas included in the lockdown).

“As Mayor of the City of Gold Coast, I don’t see the point of hurting people’s livelihoods any further. The lockdown absolutely should be lifted here unless we have a new case overnight.”

A masked Tom Tate at a media conference. Picture: Greg Stolz

But other South East mayors slammed Cr Tate for breaking ranks, with one saying he was ‘on his own on this’.

“I rely on the chief health officer and the experts leading this,” Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen said.

“The evidence from interstate shows that if you mess with this, you can end up in a bad place. I support the lockdown for the whole of South East Queensland as our best chance to get this under control.”

Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen. Picture: Luke Marsden

Lockyer Valley Mayor Tanya Milligan said while the lockdown was hurting her community, it was a case of ‘short-term pain for long-term gain’.

She said while the Lockyer Valley was Covid-free at the moment, the Delta outbreak could easily spread.

“I’m not a medical or health professional so I’m definitely putting my trust in the chief health officer and Queensland Government to make the right decisions for our community,’ she said.

“Tom’s on his own on this.”

Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor Tanya Milligan. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Logan Mayor Darren Power said the whole South East needed to play its part to contain the outbreak.

“A portion of our workforce travels from Brisbane, so now is not the time to be complacent,” he said.

Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart said that by everyone ‘doing the right thing … there is a better chance of getting out of this faster’.

Cr Tate won some backing from Coast business leaders, with Queensland Airports CEO Chris Mills saying: “We haven’t been given any information to say why the Gold Coast has the same risk profile as Brisbane.”

Queensland Health said there were no plans to lift the lockdown in any of the 11 LGAs before Sunday.

“We are worried about this Delta outbreak affecting the entire state, not just southeast Queensland,“ a spokesman said.

“We cannot exclude any southeast local government areas from the current lockdown until we know for certain there are no cases in their communities.

“This is a highly contagious variant – one case has become 31 very quickly and we could be facing hundreds of cases a day if we do not get on top of it.”