Reimagine Gold Coast: Business forum at Convention & Exhibition Centre prompts dozens of ideas from industry groups

The Gold Coast has haemorrhaged thousands of jobs due to COVID-19 and business leaders are desperate to get the city in shape for the future – here’s some ideas floated to make it happen.

FROM burying the highway to quelling city plan discontent or branding the Gold Coast as a national leader in women’s sport – dozens of ideas were floated at the Re-imagine Gold Coast forum.

The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre think tank on Thursday saw politicians and dozens of business leaders converge to discuss the future of the city in the wake of the economic turmoil wreaked by COVID-19.

City Heart Taskforce chair Moncrieff MP Angie Bell speaks to about 120 business leaders at the Reimagine Gold Coast forum breakfast. Picture: Luke Mortimer

Key industry pillar presentations were delivered by 11 groups, including chambers of commerce, Major Events Gold Coast, Regional Development Australia, Urbis Gold Coast and the Queensland Hotels Association.

Ideas included putting the Gold Coast Highway underground at Southport so the CBD is connected with the waterfront, more targeted neighbourhood city plans to reduce community discontent and selling the city as the women’s sport capital of Australia.

The City Heart Taskforce will now pen a report for the Federal Government.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash spoke over video and said “we really do need to reimagine how our future will look”.

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She said the city had lost 11,000 jobs and the unemployment rate had risen to 7.9 per cent.

Ms Cash said 11 per cent of the city’s jobs were in the accommodation and food services sector before the crisis and the Coast had been among the hardest hit regions.

“As we rebuild the economy, planning for what our future workforce looks like and importantly ensuring we have the skills we’re going to need, is essential,” she said.

Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews, addresses the Reimagine Gold Coast forum. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“The jobs created as we recover from the crisis are not likely to be the same that existed before. Many job seekers will have to re-skill and upskill to find work.”

Taskforce chair Moncrieff MP Angie Bell, accompanied by Coast MPs Karen Andrews and Stuart Robert, said the event was about determining “the way forward for the jobs of the future for Gold Coast industry and businesses, and for those Gold Coasters who are unemployed now to work out what the future is going to look like for jobs”.

City Heart Taskforce chair Moncrieff MP Angie Bell. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“This forum is about Gold Coasters working together. It’s about us, for us and by us. We can’t afford to sit back and wait for outside influences to move the city forward. We need to do this from the inside out,” she said.

Mayor Tom Tate said he was happy to back the forum but “we’ve got to have outcomes otherwise we’re just going to go around in circles”.

10 IDEAS FLOATED AT FORUM

• The Southport Chamber of Commerce suggested burying the Gold Coast Highway (Marine Pde) underground to link up the business district with the waterfront to create a world class CBD.
• Urbis Gold Coast and the Property Council of Australia (Gold Coast) said Gold Coast City Council could reintroduce neighbourhood city plans in some capacity. The idea with pitched as a way to reduce pockets of discontent undermining investment certainty.
• Sports Gold Coast wants to see the Gold Coast become the women’s sport capital of Australia and brand itself as such. The idea came amid a reported 300 per cent increase in women’s participation in AFL.
• Study Gold Coast sought better co-operation and collaboration between educational institutions, industry and individual businesses. This would lead to more employable graduates trained to tackle the jobs of the near future.
• Destination Gold Coast pushed to see a big investment in key tourism infrastructure to add layers to the city’s experience for visitors. The tourism body wants to open up the natural assets we have and provide new products for the market.
• Major Events Gold Coast said venue costs are too expensive and limit the number of events held in the city. The organisation suggested the State Government could lower fees to encourage more events in the city.
• The Central Chamber of Commerce floated a ‘live local, support local’ business voucher system to encourage Gold Coasters to shop local and prop up small business at an incredibly difficult time. It would be similar to a Northern Territory scheme.
• Regional Development Australia believes the creation of a new Gold Coast economic bureau made of up all levels of government. This could help stimulate investment and attract new industries.
• Urbis and the Property Council of Australia (Gold Coast) said red and green tape must be reduced to efficiently build light rail infrastructure and bolster city investment.
• The Southport Chamber believes moving Gold Coast City Council’s chambers and administration from Bundall to Southport makes sense and would create a more identifiable CBD.

Should the Gold Coast Highway be buried underground to link Southport CBD with the waterfront, as Southport Chamber of Commerce has suggested? Picture: Glenn Hampson

INDUSTRY PILLAR PRESENTATIONS

• Estella Rodighiero, Regional Development Australia – Gold Coast: Industry Transformation and new infrastructure supporting industry.
• Alfred Slogrove, Study Gold Coast – Engagement between industry and the education and training sector is critical to ensuring the city is producing work-ready graduates.
• Bernie Hogan, Queensland Hotels Association – The future for hospitality and accommodation.
• Geoff Smith, Sports Gold Coast – Harnessing the power of sport to produce long-term economic, social and health benefits for the Gold Coast.
• Ian Kennedy, Southport Chamber of Commerce – Southport as a CBD.
• John Howe, IeDM Integrated Event Delivery Management – Innovation and engineering: Supporting new employment opportunities in both existing and new emerging markets and industries.
• Adam Rowe, Destination Gold Coast – Future of Gold Coast post COVID-19. Rebuilding the Gold Coast through tourism numbers, infrastructure, development, education and sport.
• Jan McCormick, Major Events Gold Coast – Events, what events?
• Martin Hall, Central Chamber of Commerce – Small to medium business roadmap to future opportunities and prosperity.
• Matthew Schneider, Urbis Gold Coast/Property Council of Australia Gold Coast – Exploring emerging opportunities for the Gold Coast property sector as a cornerstone of the city’s economy.
• Prof Ned Pankhurst, HOTA – Arts and culture are vital to social and economic recovery. Creativity is also a key driver of innovation.