Gold Coast community divided by extreme measures from border closures to development

Whether it’s opening our state borders or developing a town plan for the city, we’ve managed to transform simple matters of balance into complex conundrums that are dividing our community, writes Ann Wason Moore.

GUYS, it shouldn’t be this hard.

Why do so many people seem to find it difficult to determine the line between reasonable action and extreme measures?

Whether it’s opening our state borders or developing a town plan for the city, we’ve managed to transform simple matters of balance into complex conundrums that are dividing our community.

We are not this stupid.

Gold Coast Highway border checkpoint. Picture: Scott Powick.

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Yet the echo chambers of social media have inflated and conflated these arguments to the point that we can no longer see logic … and nobody is backing down.

So please, let me spell out some simple solutions for you.

Let’s start with the c-word … coronavirus.

Not for one second do I want to downplay this pandemic and its consequences. My own family members in America have been ill for months from the long-lasting effects of this virus and every day I’m thankful that, here on the Gold Coast, my health is not under threat.

But many of my neighbours’ livelihoods are.

The only safe and sane way out of this dilemma is to stop making our borders a political issue.

Both sides need to listen to the scientists and doctors and experts who only have our health and safety at heart. And what they are repeatedly insisting is that Australia has this under control.

Yes, even as a Covid cluster is uncovered in South Australia, we don’t need to freak out – although politicians might already be encouraging us to do so.

Indeed, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday night closed the border to Adelaide, despite NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian refusing to do the same.

In other words, it’s political games as usual.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Patrick Woods.

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Sure, this cluster causes anxiety and does necessitate action, but the constant open/close of borders to hot spots, cities and states has our alarm levels set to the highest level – when the science simply does not back up that reaction. We’re in constant fight or flight mode, and it’s wearing us out.

Griffith University School of Medicine Professor Paul van Buynder, the former chairman of the Australian Immunisation Coalition, public health physician and infectious diseases epidemiologist, says this is no time to panic.

That doesn’t mean we can slack off in terms of social distancing or hand washing – and certainly we need to maintain and enforce strict international quarantine measures – but it does mean we can reopen our borders.

“I’m confident that South Australia has the capacity to throw a ring around these cases … it just shows the real risk to Australia is overseas cases,” Dr Van Buynder told ABC Gold Coast.

Dr Paul Van Buynder. Picture: Stewart Allen.

“I’d like to see the rest of the country open because there really is absolutely no reason not to, as long as each state has a good contract tracing process

“This has become more political than scientific now. I’m confident Queensland can open to the other states and manage any incursions, of which I’m expecting very few.”

It’s not that there’s no cause for alarm, there’s just no cause to be this alarmed. We’ve become extreme in our reactions, and it’s not just around the c-word.

In fact, the dirtiest word on the Gold Coast is development.

In this city, you’re either pro or anti … there is no in between.

But what kind of result does that create? Too little development means no room, no jobs and no growth, too much means destroying the natural assets and beauty that ironically built this city.

We have to find the middle way – and it really isn’t that hard.

I’ve interviewed people from all sides of the development debate and almost everyone agrees that Surfers and Broadbeach are where high-rises belong.

The suburbs that are spread south down the coast – whether beside the beach or the highway – cannot become our own not-so-great wall.

We need good development that fits our character and our coast, that feels as good to pedestrians as it does to residents. Not every high-density development needs to be a high-rise – but some must be.

We still have a lot of growing to do … and if we don’t get the balance right, we’re going to end up malformed.

It’s time as residents and citizens to resist the call urging extreme action – whether on our state borders or within our city – and meet somewhere in the middle.

It may seem hard to find this place of balance, but it’s really not. Just look for the common sense.