State election guide to Southport: Crime, homelessness, transport and small business worries
IT’S election time again. Here’s what matters most to the people from the Southport electorate ahead of the November 25 poll.
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A SOUTHPORT small business owner is pleading with state politicians to act to save him from a federal impost — the GST.
Mister Minit franchisee Mark Walters says he works seven days a week and hands over $400 a quarter to an accountant just to sort out his books to cover the goods and services tax.
He said small businesses felt “down trodden” and “forgotten”, with big businesses reaping the benefits of tax breaks and incentives.
“We’re the little guys who will never get help,” Mr Walters, 55, said.
“GST has killed small businesses.
“I work seven days a week — a 60 hour revolving week.
“I would have a permanent staff member on if it wasn’t for the GST.”
Mr Walters said businesses that made less than $10,000 a week should be exempt from paying GST, but at a state level the Southport candidates and the incumbent needed to come up with ways to support small business.
“They need to level the playing field,” Mr Walters said.
“I have gone through thick and thin ... I have survived (construction of) the light rail, the GFC, marathons, the Gold Coast 600 and gridlock around Southport.”
Mr Walters, who has been operating his small business for 10 years, said he had been able to put his kids through private school and to keep a roof over their heads, but it has come at a huge cost — time with his family.
“I am so cynical, they (government) won’t do anything,” he said.
“Small businesses, retailers and farmers have been forgotten.”
Call for action on crime
Southport couple Greg and Joan Darlington are still reeling from the violence they witnessed when a man was brutally bashed in a park near their home.
It was just one incident of many that have put crime and homelessness at the forefront of concerns in the Southport electorate, with residents demanding action.
The Darlingtons say they have seen assaults and mental health incidents in Carey Park, opposite the Broadwater Parklands, several times in recent years.
But it was the brutal bashing of a man by about eight others on January 30 that rocked them.
And they say multiple calls to triple-0 and the Southport Police Station went unanswered.
The victim, a 41-year-old homeless man, suffered a broken nose and jaw, eye injuries, six fractures in his cheeks and damage to internal organs.
“There were three different calls to triple-0 by three different people,” Mrs Darlington told the Bulletin.
Since that incident, they had reported other matters they believed “were not responded to” by police.
“Crime and homelessness are a massive issue in Southport, especially at Carey Park,” Mrs Darlington said yesterday.
Her husband Greg added: “There is a lack of police response to crime happening in the area.”
Other election priorities for locals in the Southport electorate include education, supporting local businesses and fixing traffic and parking issues. Improving public transport is also high on people’s wish list.
Boundary changes this year mean the Southport electorate has gained Benowa and the remainder of Ashmore from Surfers Paradise, but lost Arundel and the remainder of Labrador.
The changes have increased the LNP margin from 3.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent, changing the Southport seat from “marginal to fairly safe”.
But according to political analyst Paul Williams, the LNP should be thanking its lucky stars a One Nation candidate is not running in Southport.
The Griffith University professor told the Bulletin that incumbent MP Rob Molhoek’s seat would have been at risk if Pauline Hanson’s political party had nominated a candidate.
“If One Nation was fielding a candidate and they would run third in Southport, then they would preference against Rob (Molhoek),” Mr Williams said.
“They would preference Labor ahead of Rob (LNP), and the Labor candidate could win it if One Nation was standing — that’s the interesting thing about this seat. Given that most of us follow how-to-vote cards, it would definitely put the seat at risk for the LNP.”
Incumbent MP Rob Molhoek, who is deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Public Works and Utilities, has held Southport since 2012.
Mr Molhoek, whose home and office now fall outside the Southport electorate since the boundary changes, said if re-elected he would build on what he had done since he was first elected.
Mr Molhoek said priorities included schools, which were under pressure due to population growth.
Independent candidate Rick Flori, an alleged police whistleblower, told the Bulletin a vote for him meant having “accountability in government”.
At the top of his priority list was crime, specifically domestic violence and one-punch attacks.
The former Surfers Paradise cop, who is accused of leaking footage to the media of police officers bashing a handcuffed man in 2012, said he would make decisions in the best interests of the community.
“I am not there kissing babies ... I hope they look at me (and) what they see is I am genuine.’’
SOUTHPORT
Held by: Rob Molhoek (LNP) since 2012
7.8 per cent margin
Previously: Peter Lawlor (ALP)
Candidates:
Michelle Le Plastrier (Greens)
Rob Molhoek (LNP)
Rick Flori (IND)
Johan Joubert (Civil Liberties)
Judy Searle (ALP)
Suburbs: Southport, Molendinar, Ashmore, Benowa, Bundall
Electors (population ): 33,150
Demographics: Businesspeople, retirees, families
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