01 Oct 2024
Words
John Miller Informer
The Sunshine Tate
Informer invited Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate to reflect on the most significant achievements of his first three terms and give a glimpse of what lies ahead for his fourth.
Tom Tate has been a prominent face of the Gold Coast’s accommodation industry for more than three decades. First as owner and operator of Islander Hotel Resort in Surfers Paradise, then as property developer with the family business started by his late father Warwick (who was a good friend of ResortBrokers Chairman Ian Crooks), then as outspoken president of the Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce, which provided a springboard for his current incarnation as mayor of Australia’s sixth most populous city, a position he has held for the last 12 years.
For a businessman who reluctantly entered the political fray only “to get things done,” as he told The Courier-Mail in 2018, Tate has taken to the milieu with gusto. His mayoralty has given him one of the highest profiles of any local government official in the country, a renown boosted by Tate’s idiosyncratic showmanship.
Last year, he publicly toyed with the idea of the Gold Coast hosting the Commonwealth Games a second time after Melbourne’s abrupt about-face. “The Premier of Victoria’s lemon, the Gold Coast can turn that into lemonade because that’s how we roll,” he told reporters with characteristic panache.
Faith, too, guides Tate. He cites the biblical character of Job as foundational to how he carries himself; the righteous man who faithfully responds to life’s trials, who remains humble and true to his family. Every so often, Tate allows his faith and flamboyance to intersect.
Ahead of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, he underwent a symbolic and well- publicised “baptism for the city” when he was immersed by a Christian preacher in Evandale Lake.
Tate’s style may not be everyone’s taste, but he has proved a hit with the decisive majority of Gold Coast ratepayers who’ve continued to endorse him across the elections he’s contested since 2012, often by thumping margins.
In March this year, he achieved the Holy Grail of Australian politics: the elusive fourth term that few have attempted and even fewer accomplished, which will see him serve as mayor until at least 2028.
Long tenure gives Tate the benefit of perspective, an opportunity to reflect on his 12-year record. Of his proudest achievements in office, he nominates three: slashing debt, free public travel for seniors and veterans, and the development of a cultural precinct.
When he came to office in 2012, Tate inherited a council mired in liabilities with very little to show for it. Ratepayers were being hit with annual rate increases several points higher than CPI.
“I couldn’t believe it when I first became mayor,” says Tate. “Council debt was approaching $860 million yet there was no big investment in community projects. Today, debt is around $490 million, and we’ve built more than $2 billion in new community assets since 2012.”
“By comparison, Brisbane City Council’s debt is $3.2 billion. They can keep their debt. We put the brakes on council debt and kept annual rate increases at or below CPI. Ratepayers deserve to know what their rate dollars are being spent on. We’ll continue to deliver frontline services and new roads, bridges, pools and libraries without blowing the budget.”
Reining in debt enabled Tate to redirect funds to some of his early initiatives. Among the first was one of his most popular: free public travel for seniors and veterans. Approved by council in 2013, the program now has 49,000 registered users, about 8% of the Gold Coast’s more than 625,000 residents.
“I’m extremely proud of this program,” says Tate. “The big upside is the social connection. Seniors are out and about, catching up with mates, playing sport, visiting libraries, the doctor or their local shopping centre. This is good for our city’s social fabric as well as the mental and physical health of our seniors and veterans. It also keeps cars off the road.”
Another of Tate’s initiatives was the Home of the Arts, known by its ungainly acronym HOTA, a multi-disciplinary cultural precinct whose centrepiece is an outdoor amphitheatre hosting concerts for up to 5,000 spectators on its lawn. HOTA was five years in the making; the amphitheatre opened in early 2018 and a public art gallery, the largest outside a state capital, followed in 2021.
“It took a while, but the evolution of HOTA has given the Gold Coast a greater sense of itself,” says Tate. “Every city has its own story. Ours may be largely shaped around our world-class beaches, great events, waterways and hinterland. But we also have a vibrant arts community. That community now has a home in HOTA.”
Tate has an even more sophisticated vision for HOTA, which includes a 1,600-seat lyric theatre.
“HOTA is fully funded by Gold Coast ratepayers, $135 million to date,” he says. “If council approves the design and business case for Stage 3, I plan to lobby the state and federal governments to contribute financially. After all, the state government has heavily invested in the South Brisbane arts precinct as well as regional arts facilities. It’s high time we saw some support for HOTA. Further, the feds have a specific fund to build regional arts infrastructure. So they can expect a knock on their door too."
In 2023, HOTA was subsumed into a new entity, Experience Gold Coast, an organisational behemoth that also merges Destination Gold Coast, Major Events Gold Coast, Study Gold Coast and Placemakers. Experience Gold Coast is destination marketing on steroids, designed to turn the city into the country’s premier location by hosting marquee events that have so far eluded it.
“Our economy benefits from a strong annual calendar of major events, spread across 12 months,” says Tate. “But we don’t want to trip over our own feet by hosting those events on competing weekends. Experience Gold Coast is working on a calendar to ensure our 600-plus local events get the support they need. Ultimately, great events convert into bed nights and full restaurants.”
If Tate sounds like a hotelier, it’s because he was one. In 1993, Tate began operating the 98-room Islander Resort Hotel in Surfers Paradise, which his father had bought the previous year. Tate’s family company acquired the property from his father in 2011 and sold it in 2015. Tate says his hotel experience has helped inform his civic management of the Gold Coast.
“Without doubt, being a former hotelier and also my previous role as president of the Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce has ensured I understand the challenges faced by these sectors,” he says. “I maintain an open-door approach to all Gold Coasters and our 78,000 registered businesses.”
With a rapidly sophisticating hotel landscape that will see the likes of Marriott, the world’s largest hotel company, bring its Gold Coast portfolio to four once St Regis Gold Coast opens at Budds Beach in 2027, Tate says it’s important the Gold Coast remain grounded.
“The coast is coming of age with world-class resorts either open and operating, or coming out of the ground right now,” he says. “Equally important is the renewal and refurbishment of so many family- focused accommodation facilities. Domestic family visitation is the bread and butter of the coast and has been for 60 years. We must never lose sight of that.”
By the end of his fourth term in 2028, Tate plans to have another project out of the ground: a $2 billion Advanced Resource Recovery Centre (ARRC) at Stapylton, a semi-rural locality on the Gold Coast’s backblocks north of Ormeau. ARRC will see around 97% of the city’s waste reused, recycled or repurposed and feed electricity into the grid.
“This facility is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must,” says Tate. “Our city landfill sites will be exhausted inside 11 years. Further, the ever-increasing state waste levy will hit Gold Coasters hard in their hip pocket. Through a public- private partnership, ARRC can create a revenue stream for council, putting further downward pressure on rates.”
A high-tech recycling facility is not unique to the Gold Coast; there are a number being rolled out across Australia. Tate says he’s always been open to integrating new ideas into the city.
“If it’s a good fit with the coast, we’ll embrace it,” he says. END
