Schoolies 2019: Promoters fed up with calls to shorten it

A Gold Coaster behind Schoolies beach parties is fed up with calls to shorten it and ease up on the party focus, saying it is safe and the graduates deserve to enjoy it.

A GOLD Coaster behind Schoolies beach parties is fed up with calls to shorten it and ease up on the party focus, saying it is safe and the graduates deserve to enjoy it.

Two weeks ago Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia founder Paul Dillon controversially called for shortening week-long Schoolies booking packages to three days.

His call was backed by Mayor Tom Tate who agreed saying by day four they’ve had enough.

Now Broadbeach lawyer Bruce Simmonds said he endorsed a three-day Schoolies and it should be re-badged as a “learning bridge for school leavers between high school and what they will encounter in the real world of jobs and university”.

Broadbeach lawyer wants Schoolies celebrations to be cut own to three days. Picture: Glenn Hampson

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Mr Simmonds, who has acted for injured Schoolies in the past as a litigation director of Broadbeach’s Parker Simmonds Solicitors and Lawyers, said there was too much focus on a “1980s mindset of mindless partying and drinking”.

Mr Simmonds said once Schoolies had their initial party weekend, the rest of the week saw them pretty aimless and drifting around town.

“So let’s use this opportunity to ensure they are ready to cope with some of the unsavoury aspects of the real world now. Such as sex predators in the workplace and universities, things they may have only skirted around at school,” Mr Simmonds says.

Billy Cross thinks there’s “nothing wrong with Schoolies” and it’s a safe environment. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Mayor Tom Tate think Schoolies should be cut short. Photo: Mike Batterham

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“Rather than have the Gold Coast awash yet again with drunken kids off their faces, we should use the opportunity to let them celebrate the end of school but also get them ready for the real world they will encounter in a few weeks’ time.”

But Cross Promotions co-owner Billy Cross, whose firm partners with Schoolies.com to deliver beach-front dance parties in a Schoolies zone, said the whole event has much improved “from the early days” in terms of service response, entertainment and coordination.

“Schoolies is a celebration, they have been at school for 11 or 12 years and are about to go into the adult world. Just let them be with their friends and have a week of celebration.

Schoolies started on the Gold Coast this Saturday. Picture: John Gass

“There is nothing wrong with Schoolies, it’s a safe environment, it’s nothing like it was in the old days,” Mr Cross said.

“The past 15 years or so have been amazing. Back in the early days there was no safety response from the government,” Mr Cross said.

Now the State Government funds an organised response to the influx of an estimated 18,000 schoolleavers into Surfers Paradise on top of do-good group Red Frogs and other services.

Schoolies celebrations officially begin on Saturday with the first week for Queensland schoolleavers followed by NSW graduates the week after.