Gold Coast mayor says council lobby group might be a club he’d like to join after all
Foiled in a plan to go it alone, the Gold Coast is looking increasingly set to make a sharp U-turn and re-join the southeast Queensland council of mayors (COMSEQ) in the lead up to the 2032 south-east Queensland Olympics.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Beginning a furious backpedal, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate indicated he was willing to work this week to re-join the alliance – that costs the city $350,000 a year just for membership – if it meant the Gold Coast was back in the frame for infrastructure funding ahead of the Olympic Games.
“Our council vote to leave the Council of Mayors was 4-1 in favour, so it was a super majority. If any councillor has a different view now, I’m happy to consider their thoughts going forward,” Tate said.
“Projects should be assessed on merit and need, not on any city’s financial membership to a particular group.”
Tate and his chosen Gold Coast proxies have been humiliatingly rejected numerous times for a seat on the influential south-east Queensland Olympic Board.
Tate has also been accused of risking billions in critical infrastructure spending for the city by refusing to play inside the tent.
But he has continuously refused to cough up for a seat on the mayoral committee to buy the city a seat at the Olympic table.
It is the latest move in a fractious preparation for the Olympics that is still 10 years away.
The Gold Coast’s reticent return to the fold would be a powerful victory by Brisbane over the regional powerhouse and 2016 Commonwealth Games host city.
Tate pulled the Gold Coast out of COMSEQ on the eve of south-east Queensland being confirmed as 2032 Olympic hosts.
The ‘deal breaker” at that time was an Olympic-sized snub of Tate being left out of the influential Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee.
Tate described the humiliation as “distasteful” and said the Gold Coast no longer “wants to be in the team”.
Rather, the city famed for its ability to punch above its weight on the national stage, would go it alone to advocate for Gold Coast-centric deals funding outside COMSEQ, he said.
However, since then, the Gold Coast has failed to win a seat at the Olympic table, despite a number of new appointments.
The city is also understood to be at risk of dipping on SEQ City Deal funding as money from all tiers of government is pumped into the region to cope with galloping numbers of interstate migrants and preparations for the Olympics.
