Think Tank: Villaworld CEO Craig Treasure

VILLAWORLD CEO Craig Treasure believes daylight saving is key to our credible economic future.

Villaworld Managing Director Craig Treasure. Pic by David Clark

CRAIG Treasure is CEO of the Villaworld, which in 2016 will celebrate 30 years as a listed company. He believes daylight saving is key to our credible economic future.

Father of three daughters Craig Treasure is a surveyor by trade and started business on the Gold Coast with his own consultancy business, which is now part of the RPS Group.

He worked as a director on the board of Sunland, running that company’s east-coast house and land business from 1998-2006. He’s spent the past three years with VillaWorld, which is the city’s oldest listed company.

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What do you love about the Gold Coast?

“It’s been our family home for a little bit over 30 years and we love the relaxed lifestyle.

“It’s got everything you need but not too big and you can get to Brisbane when you need to.

“We all forget about the natural beauty of this place, from the beaches to the Hinterland — we live in one of the most beautiful places there is but you have to remind yourself of that.

“Whether it’s walking at Burleigh, exploring the Broadwater by boat or motorcycle riding at Beechmont, it’s all here on our doorstep.

“How fortunate am I to be the CEO of an ASX 300 company based in one of the most beautiful places in the world?”

What could be done better on the Gold Coast?

“I’d like our political representatives at all levels to show more long-term vision and strength to achieve better outcomes for our region.

“It’s unfortunate the Gold Coast has had a lot of elected political representations aligned to the parties that are in power for a long time, but we don’t have a lot to show for it.

“That’s because the vote of the Gold Coast people has always been taken for granted.

“I don’t know how they could change that, but it needs to for the future.

“Our authorities need to be brave enough to borrow now to establish infrastructure.

“This is the example of many other cities and countries around the world.

“They build for their future by investing today.

“The Gold Coast needs to focus more on job creation. In the past, our young people had to leave the city to pursue tertiary education — now they can stay here, we’ve got all these world-class universities and they can stay here.

“But now, they leave after university — for different reasons.

“In the case of my children, it’s about pursuing that culture of a bigger city that they yearn for.

“We’re losing our young people because of the career opportunities that they, at least, perceive aren’t here.

“We need to develop new opportunities in IT and innovation and diversify in the traditional sectors of construction and tourism.

“For example, let’s sell the broader coastal region from Byrin Bay to the Gold Coast as a tourist destination. We sell just theme parks or just the Gold Coast — it’s a broader region. Forget artificial interstate borders. Or perhaps we could move the border south?”

In your travels, what have you seen being done elsewhere you think could work well here?

“While Gold Coast’s beaches are a terrific asset, as the city matures, shared green space becomes increasingly important.

“We could look at innovative parks like the Highline in New York to improve our public spaces.

“It’s a park that’s 6km long, up in the air on a disused rail platform that brings tens of thousands of people together — there’s cafes and bars and cinemas.

“Waterway transport has long been on the agenda and we need to look no further than Brisbane to see the success of the ferries — why don’t we have it here?

“Someone’s got to do it.

“Our beaches are matched by an equally impressive system of waterways that can connect people and expand our tourism industry.

“Also if the cruise ship terminal was so controversial at the northern end and there were so many people against it, why not put it near the airport somewhere?

“We have to have one eventually.”

If money, time, laws and approvals were no issue, what’s one big project you’d undertake tomorrow?

“As a property developer, this would be a dream — money, time, laws and approvals individually or in combination are always an issue!

“For the future of the Gold Coast, I would choose extending the light rail to the airport, along with the east-west connections to Nerang and Robina.

“This would stimulate the entire regional economy and truly position us as a world city.

“Any funds left over could be used to improve the airport to extend our reach to the world.”

What conversations should Gold Coast movers and shakers be having?

“All sections of the business community — tourism and hospitality, building and construction, retail, education, health IT and innovation — must align our common interest in revitalising the economy.

“This will allow for stronger representation of industry groups and politicians.

“Gold Coast businesses have a track record of innovation, of finding ways to get complex things done with limited funding.

“Public-private partnerships are the key to going forward and private industry should be allowed to innovate and be involved in the delivery of key ventures like the cultural precinct at Evandale.

“We need to nurture a culture of opportunity for our youth so that they want to stay in our city.

“Finally, we need to be talking about daylight saving.

“We need it. If we think we can become a stronger tourist destination and a competing business centre without it, we are very mistaken.

“I spend three days every second week in Melbourne and it’s just so fantastic what it delivers there for the tourism and hospitality industry and the lifestyle of everybody and we’re sitting here with blinkers on — there’s not even a conversation happening around it.

“It would really change things. Big businesses in Sydney and Melbourne think it’s a joke that we’re on a different time zone.”