Councillor Brooke Patterson on Anzac Day controversy, her views on homelessness and whether she’ll run for Mayor
As Anzac Day approaches, newly re-elected Southport councillor Brooke Patterson has opened up about her controversial decision to move the dawn march - and why this year will be different.
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Brooke Patterson is nervous. Terrified, actually.
Yes, she just claimed victory in her bid to be re-elected as Southport councillor, handily winning more than 50 per cent of the vote against rivals Samantha Delmege and David E. Woodley – even if she did briefly end up in hospital from exhaustion after her efforts.
And sure, she has a long list of achievements already accomplished during her first four years in local government, with more goals set for this new term and a new title as chair of City Governance.
But she can’t move forward with her dreams for the future until she closes the door on a nightmare from the past.
It’s almost one year since Cr Patterson’s great Anzac Day debacle, a moment in time she might wish she could forget, but a lesson she will always remember.
In April 2023, Cr Patterson sparked outrage by having an events company run Anzac Day formalities instead of the RSL, and rescheduled a dawn march for daylight hours.
“I didn’t want to say this before the election in case people thought I was just trying to win votes, but I also wanted to say this as far away from April 25 as I could, I don’t want to wreck that special day again. I’m terrified to get it wrong.
“I just want to say I am deeply sorry. I’m so sorry that I was responsible for causing hurt in our community, and especially to cause any damage to a day that I have so much respect for.
“I wanted to try to create some closure over that episode. Anzac Day for me and my family, like many, is the most sacred day of the year.
“To have done anything to have caused hurt … it’s hard for me to think of anything more awful that could have happened.
“I truly meant well but I got it wrong, and the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got.
“I was in the foetal position for about four days during that episode. Maybe it’s a sign that I’ve had a good life, but that was the cruellest week of my life.”
Cr Patterson said $53,000 had been allocated for the Southport Anzac services to run seamlessly this year. To ensure the interests and intentions of the RSL Southport sub-branch were met, she requested the City’s Broadwater Parklands team work directly with them, omitting the added layer of an external events team.
She said Anzac Day was a deeply personal day for her family, with her grandfather killed in action during World War II, and it was a huge regret her good intentions had backfired.
“My grandfather was Wing Commander Richard Atkinson DSO and Bar, he was with the Royal Air Force but was stationed in Cairns, which was where he met my grandmother,” she said.
“He was shot down twice during the war. The first time was on Christmas Day outside Singapore, his mate saw it and got word to a Norwegian sub and he was saved.
“The second time he was shot down was over a Norwegian field, and that’s where he still is.
“I always think of his story on Anzac Day, especially looking out over the Broadwater. They used to fly the Catalinas down to Rathmines and stop at the Broadwater on the way … that’s why the restaurant there is called Catalinas.
“It seems so long ago but it’s actually all still so close.
“To do anything other than honour this day is just completely against my values, I hate that it happened.
“Sometimes you get smashed in this job for standing up for what you believe in, but what made this absolutely horrific for me was getting smashed for being misunderstood. But I take full accountability.”
While this was certainly her worst case of being misunderstood, Cr Patterson said it was not the first.
She said her work to address her division’s homelessness issue had also brought all the wrong headlines.
“To this day, if you Google me it will say Brooke Patterson wants to jail homeless people. That’s not what I want, I want to help homeless people,” she said.
“I was the first to bring in a Homelessness Action Plan for this city. Four years ago, if a council cleaner found someone in a public toilet with a syringe hanging out of their arm, there was no policy, no nothing. We brought all that in.
“To say that I want to jail the homeless, that is completely at odds with who I am, what I stand for and what I have achieved.
“The Australian Local Government Women’s Association Queensland have been presenting us as a case study to councils everywhere, they show what we were able to secure in council as best practice now.”
Despite this ‘baptism of fire’, Cr Patterson said she was nothing but excited about her next term in council, as well as working with the new team.
She said she was focused on executing the next stage of her long-term plan to reactivate Southport’s CBD.
“The PDA (Priority Development Area) that was brought in back in 2012 really had the opposite impact of what was intended. It was basically a supply model for a demand problem – you’ll never fix demand by increasing supply.
“There’s an overhaul being done on that PDA now and while it’s hard to take back what was given, we can tighten up areas. It’s likely we’ll see building levels reduced in some areas, like the Garden District, which could well mean more developments being built.
“The reason is because when you grant unlimited height, the owner thinks their land is worth unlimited dollars, they won’t sell it for a 10-storey price and so no one builds anything. That’s the problem.
“With limitations, we’ll get more space activated. And from my conversations with planners, there is appetite to recognise that.”
Cr Patterson said that was just the start of her CBD plans.
She said the priority was to get government representation in the city, and that should begin with the local level.
“The biggest thing I can do is to get government here: council, state departments, state Supreme Court and Federal Circuit Court,” she said.
“Our city has one of, if not the highest, domestic and family violence rates per capita and we don’t have a Federal Circuit Court. Anyone going through a divorce has to go up and down the M1.
“By comparison, Parramatta has its own Federal Circuit Court and it’s not even an hour away from Sydney.
“Conversations are also progressing the case for council staff accommodations to be moved to the CBD.
“I think these plans are likely, it’s very real for me. Despite everything you hear about it, I’m very bullish on the CBD.”
Then there are Cr Patterson’s long-long-term plans.
In fact, she’s hesitant to even call it a plan, more a long-term vision. But it sure sounds like a dream.
“Ultimately, I think the Gold Coast Highway has to go underground so the Broadwater can connect to the CBD. It’s hard to see a future where that doesn’t happen,” she said.
“I’ve seen a consultation report, which the State Government spent $250,000 on, which showed the Highway being diverted around the back of the CBD, that’s something (late town planner) Matt Schneider once suggested.
“As far as I know that plan is just collecting dust, we should honour people like Matt by realising his brilliant ideas.”
Despite her many plans, Cr Patterson said one thing she had ruled out was leaving her job as representative of Division 6.
She said while she once ran against Southport State MP Rob Molhoek, she was now proud to be his supporter.
“For the first time in a long time, I have this experience of not having any ambition to be anywhere other than where I am. I’m so clear on what I can do in this job, I don’t want any other job,” she said.
“I am a member of the LNP but I have actively informed them that I’m not interested in anything but this, I love being part of the largest independent government in the country, there is nowhere else like it.
“I think Rob has been doing a great job and I’m also really impressed with the Young Liberals in this city, the Gold Coast chair Bronte Mullane is something else, she’s amazing.
“At this stage I wouldn’t consider running for mayor, either. I get why you would, but I have one vote and the mayor has one vote, my priority is to realise the transformation of the CBD.”
Regardless, Cr Patterson does have a brand new role in this council.
She has been named Chair of Governance, as well as the council representative for its independent Audit and Risk Committee.
“I know that would be most people’s worst nightmare, but those roles are my dream,” she said.
“Governance is all about how does our organisation work, how is it structured? For me, the part that has been missing that I want to include is transparency.
“If you are running a good government, which I think we are, transparency is a really big part of good governance. I’ll be standing on the shoulders of those who came before and I want to take it to the next level.
“As part of the Audit and Risk Committee, I really want to concentrate on the Gold Coast Waterways Authority. There are so many problems around our waterways for residents, but the Authority is actually lacking in authority and needs to be given stronger powers.”
Cr Patterson said she wanted to help residents understand not just how the council worked as a government, but how well it worked.
She said she believed one of the key issues was communication, or lack thereof.
“If you think of the most sensitive council decisions in the last few years, and there have been a number, how we managed communicating those decisions to people was really lacking,” she said.
“The decisions themselves, even when I voted against things, I’m clear that there was rigour in the process.
“I’m proud of our council and the city deserves for residents to have faith in that process and to cherish it. That’s not the case at the moment.
“It’s not about the facts, it’s about how you communicate the facts. There is a certain segment who, it doesn’t matter what the council does, think it’s a scheme, a conspiracy, they imagine bags of money being handed over in the dark of night.
“I’ve tried to address that breakdown in trust by having town halls, I’ve had more than any other councillor. Any matter there is, I’ll have a town hall and residents can come along.
“I was warned against them but it’s been great. Residents are engaged, they ask tough questions but they see you’re responding in a public forum and being held accountable.
“They leave at least knowing your true position and where you stand. I pride myself on my communication skills.”
Which was why the Anzac Day crisis was such a bitter pill for Cr Patterson.
But one year on, she’s on track for a fresh start.
“I’ve worked to earn back the trust of the RSL sub-branch and I’m very grateful for the relationship we now have,” she said.
“In this job, even when all is going well, sometimes you don’t realise just how vulnerable and exposed you are.
“But I don’t want people to think I’m complaining about my job, I’m incredibly lucky and honoured to represent these residents and this city.
“I’ve learned my lesson the hard way and now I’m looking forward to a fantastic four years.”
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