In late February, Christie McCabe, Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce Vice President Membership, attended the Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce's Big Ideas Breakfast when the Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, Premier of Queensland, presented her visions for the future of the Gold Coast. On Thursday 27th April, the Chamber held another Big Ideas Breakfast to hear from Opposition Leader, Tim Nicholls MP, who also shared his vision for the future of the Gold Coast...

  The Gold Coast business community will benefit significantly from the Fair Work Commission's decision to change penalty rates for Sundays, public holidays, early morning and late evenings for the hospitality, restaurant, fast food and retail industries. Tourism, retail and hospitality are key industries for the city and these reductions in the penalty rates will help businesses in these sectors to be open longer and to hire more people for longer.
The change...

  I hope your New Year has gotten off to a great start and that 2017 will be the finest yet for you and all Queenslanders. Now onto what's been happening and a snapshot of what I have been doing (minus all the meetings, hearings and the rest)

Gold Coast Seniors Tennis Club official opening
It was a privilege to participate in the official opening of new facilities at Pizzey Park Tennis Centre in January. I worked hard with the Gold Coast Seniors Tennis and ...

A prepared community is a resilient community. As Mayor, I'm committed to ensuring our city is as prepared as possible for severe storms and other natural disasters.  As a business community, we have a role to play in advocating emergency preparation to keep ourselves, our families, homes and businesses safe. Knowing you have a disaster readiness plan in place for your home and your business will help minimise damage and facilitate faster recovery. This year, some small busi...

The beginning of the Parliamentary year has commenced slowly with the Palaszczuk Labor Government continuing to try and justify their failure from the ongoing Queensland Rail debacle.  When the LNP ran Queensland Rail, the trains ran on time and with no cancellation of services.  The urgency of fixing our passenger trains is even more important to be ready for the Commonwealth Games.
Tourism and construction are still buoyant on the Gold Coast even though we have entered a trad...

The continued growth of the Gold Coast tourism industry presents many opportunities for locals. This week I launched the China-Australia Year of Tourism, a Coalition initiative taken together with China that celebrates our relationship and recognises the significance of the Chinese tourism market to Australia. This campaign will drive further growth in our largest tourism market and the Gold Coast stands to reap the benefits. As the primary economic driver for many of our city'...