Southport has always been the CBD of the Gold Coast, accounting for around 20 per cent of jobs on the Gold Coast. Almost 40,000 people work in Southport and the average income of those who do is $7,000 higher than the city wide average. The area has been unrecognised and underdeveloped although it acts as the Gold Coasts ‘engine room’.
My vision for the Southport CBD is for it to become Queensland’s second business capitol outside of the Brisbane CBD. I will advocate for the Southport CBD in parliament and express its importance to the electorate’s economy as well as the entire Gold Coast and surrounding regions. We have a bustling business district that should see more investment and greater exposure. If Southport is correctly recognized and prioritized, it will continue to be a business district that provides for ny people in and surrounding the area. I understand the importance of the CBD and will continue to advocate for it.
Child safety is something that means a lot to me. That is why for more than a decade, I have been honored with being heavily involved with Bravehearts as Director. Bravehearts is Australia’s leading child protection organisation that works tirelessly to prevent child sexual assault and exploitation. The organisation was founded in 1997 by the outstanding Hetty Johnston AM following the discovery of her young daughter’s sexual assault. She could not find an organisation to turn to for help, so instead she started her own.
I have raised in parliament on various occasions the importance of child safety. As a young boy, at only 10 years old, I was sexually abused multiple times by a client of my fathers. Having experienced child abuse, there is nothing I want more then to end it. I passionately believe there should be tougher legislation to help protect kids from sexual violence of any form and I will never stop fighting for it. Child protection is non-negotiable. I believe families have a right to know where pedophiles are so they can keep their children safe.
Bravehearts is an organisation I will always do my best to support. The work done by the selfless people at Bravehearts not only helps assist and prevent child sexual assault, but also gives the victims a voice.
Current projections on housing suggest we need to squeeze at least 200,000 more people into the Gold Coast by 2031. Unfortunately, we are running out of land in the corridor. Do we concentrate growth on the light rail and go up or drive population into residential domains such as Southport and Ashmore? By doing the latter, suburban areas will be destroyed for the building of towering apartment complexes that clutter our streets with cars. We need long term solutions made for housing here on the Gold Coast. It is of extreme urgency that we find viable solutions and invest into them so the Gold Coast can stay beautiful and we have suitable housing for all.
Homelessness, unfortunately, is an issue that the Gold Coast has been wrestling with for some time. I have had the privilege to have been ambassador for the Gold Coast CEO Sleepout. The issue of homelessness is something that is important to me and the electorate, that is why I will be working hard in helping reduce the issue and find effective solutions.
In January 2021 approximately 26,000 applications are on the social housing waitlist including 16,000 that are considered urgent. This same waitlist includes more than 2,700 families from the Gold Coast. Unfortunately, Labor axed the LNP’s social housing program back in 2015, had the planned projects been fully realized we could’ve had significantly more social housing by now to help reduce waiting lists. With state debt soaring, why isn’t the State government investing even a fraction of that into affordable housing? Even Victoria has announced plans to invest 5.3 billion into affordable housing. As previously mentioned, with the Gold Coast expected to house at least 200,000 more people by 2031, I will be fighting for a serious investment into social housing by the state government.
The TAFE site on Ridgeway Avenue has been identified as surplus to the needs of the Department of Education, Small Business and Training. I have long believed that the site should be given back to the community and be converted to a combination of green space and community and recreational facilities, and since 2019 I have been working with the community to lobby the Queensland Labor Government to gift the site to the Gold Coast City Council. In 2020, the State Labor Government committed to gifting only two-thirds of the site to the community, wanting to sell the remaining portion of the site to recoup costs. I believe the site of TAFE Ridgeway should be used as land for the community and not sold off privately. I will continue to work with the Gold Coast City Council to ensure that the council can procure the full site for community use. Currently, the State Government and the Gold Coast City Council are in negotiations over the purchase and future uses of the site. I will continue to fight to make sure this space is retained for community use.
I am genuinely passionate about our next generation of young leaders here in Southport! Young people pave the path to the future and should not be ignored. That is why I love to get involved with our future leaders and mentor them wherever I can.
Currently I am running a young leader’s program here in Southport for up-and-coming talented individuals. The program usually consists of 5 events that involve a variety of community and business leaders as mentors. The final event consists of a trip to Queensland Parliament that is always a highlight. Over the years it has been great to see past participants from this program go on to achieve spectacular things in our community, in business and in public life.
There are also 14 primary and secondary schools in the Southport electorate. I like to regularly engage with the student leaders and that is why I run a student leaders BBQ event at Parliament House every year. In addition to the barbeque, I also engage with students on a regular basis in their school environment and at education events throughout the electorate.
In addition to all this, I often have interns and work placement students in my electorate office learning the ropes of parliamentary work and helping our community.
I was blessed by having some great mentors in my earlier years and I think its important students today get the same opportunities I had.
If you have any ideas on how we can better engage with our youth please feel free to reach out and let me know!
