Golden Age: John Witheriff says the Gold Coast will grow and there’s nothing we can do about it

THE Gold Coast is a success story but its growth isn’t going to stop, writes John Witheriff who reveals how we will face the challenge of ensuring the Gold Coast maintains its place as ‘a liveable city’.

LIKE a lot of people on the Gold Coast I am the beneficiary of some sage advice from time to time from a wise old newspaper editor.

Recently he told me “Johnny, there are three things that are certain in life … death, taxes and population growth on the Gold Coast”.

When I arrived on the Gold Coast and started my days at the Southport Hospital, the city’s population was less than 43,000. Broadbeach had a solid population of 972 people. In those days there were tick gates at the border. With a population approaching 700,000 and millions of visitors every year those tick gates proved completely ineffectual in keeping people away from the Gold Coast.

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Joh Witheriff as part of the GOLDOC board, along with Bob Gordon, Peta Fielding, John Witheriff, Mark Peters, Glynis Nunn-Cearns, Dale Dickson and Bronwyn Morris. Photo by Richard Gosling

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I remember speaking at a public meeting a few years ago. A middle-aged lady yelled at me from the crowd “Blow-ins like you are stuffing up the city. I have been here since 1982”. I responded by telling this lady that I was sure that blow-ins like her had made a material and positive contribution to the city.

I went on to say that if I had a similar attitude to hers then she wouldn’t be here enjoying everything that our city has to offer. We are blessed to be surrounded by some of the world’s most beautiful natural attractions and to enjoy a climate second to none.

The old newspaper editor was right. The Gold Coast will continue to grow and frankly there is not much we can do about that. Our challenge is to ensure that we maintain a liveable city. For this to occur we need three basic outcomes: Something to do; Ease in getting around; A strong and sustainable jobs market.

John Witheriff. Photo: Kit Wise

For the whole of my lifetime we have relied largely on the construction industry and the tourism industry to provide the bulk of our employment opportunities. These industries have served us well but as everyone experienced through the GFC, the cyclical nature of these industries can wreak havoc.

There was hardly a family who didn’t have a relative or friend working away from the Gold Coast during those years. The phenomenon of fly-in fly-out bread winners wreaked havoc on families and created enormous social consequences for this region.

The challenge for us as a community is to ensure this time around we grow the education and health sectors, we ensure the infrastructure necessary is delivered to facilitate smart people working from home and, most of all, we ensure that the public and private capital markets continue in a counter cyclical way to smooth out the supply of funds that support our construction and tourism industries.

John Witheriff at Metricon Stadium. Photo: Kit Wise

That same old newspaper editor had a lot to say.

I recall him telling a young Tom Tate and myself “stop whingeing boys, you can make a difference, get out there and do your best”.

I think the old newspaper editor’s words are as valid now as they have ever been.

We have a beautiful city, it faces challenges but if we as a community meet those challenges we will retain a liveable city for the centuries.