Tom Tate: Gold Coast Mayor’s plan to turn Surfers Paradise into Australia’s Monaco

Tom Tate led a proposal which would have seen the Surfers Paradise adopt a Monaco-style tax-duty-free zone shopping precinct. THE PLAN

Mayor Tom Tate is riding high after bringing down his 13th budget on Friday, just months after being re-elected to record a fourth term.

He’s spent the week talking up the strength of the economy and exciting projects council is working on.

It comes 20 years after one of his most famous and headline-grabbing ideas from before he got the city’s top job.

In mid-2004 Mr Tate was the firebrand head of the Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce at a time when frustration was growing among business bosses over the state of the suburb.

He and other powerful business leaders got so fed up they announced plans for Surfers Paradise to secede from the Gold Coast and have its own governing body.

They argued “a lack of forward thinking and planning by the city council threatens to destroy its reputation as one of Australia’s holiday playgrounds”.

Mr Tate called on Premier Peter Beattie to “pass a special act of Parliament to give Surfers its own identity, saying the Surfers `brand’ is known much better throughout the world than the Gold Coast”.

Tom Tate overlooks Surfers Paradise from the Islander Resort with plans to rule the roost by developing a separate council.

“We are deadly serious about this,’’ he said at the time.

“The whole concept of secession is born out of the frustration of the lack of progress in providing infrastructure to support the sustained growth of Surfers Paradise over the past two decades.

“Why would people want to keep coming here if they can’t get a shower or can’t get to their unit or hotel because of the traffic?’’

Under the plan Mr Tate and his supporters drew up at the time, a new Surfers Paradise council was to be established, with the first order of business to be a local law to create “a dedicated tax-duty-free zone shopping precinct, similar to Monaco”.

“I want to know what the business and residents of Surfers Paradise think,’’ he said.

“We see Surfers Paradise as an international destination such as Honolulu, Las Vegas and Monaco.’’

“I believe that the move will get overwhelming support.’’

The move drew mixed reactions across the board.

John Witheriff

Commerce Queensland Gold Coast chairman John Witheriff said at the time that his group would support it “if Surfers Paradise business leaders saw securing their own revenue base as their only option”.

“Unless the substance of the issues being raised can be addressed, then it definitely needs to be done,’’ he said.

“There was a concern expressed among the other chambers about the break-up of the city, but what emerged was the overwhelming support for the frustrations being felt by the Surfers chamber.

Acting Premier Terry Mackenroth hit back at the time and said the Gold Coast’s boundaries had been changed in 1995.

“It’s over,’’ he said.

“The Surfers `brand’ is better known throughout the world than the Gold Coast.”

Greg Hallam, Local Govt Association.

However, Local Government Association executive director Greg Hallam said “there was no legal precedent” for the proposal.

“Only councils can recommend to government that boundaries be changed,’’ he said.

“Then you need a referendum of the entire city. I think the likelihood of any secession plan would be remote.

“It is much easier to amalgamate than set up a separate municipality.’’

Former premier and Surfers Paradise MP Rob Borbidge said Surfers was the ‘capital’ of the Gold Coast.

He argued that, instead of seceding, Beenleigh should be cut adrift from the city council area.

Ultimately, Surfers Paradise remained part of the Gold Coast while Beenleigh left.