At the Australian Local Government Association conference in Canberra last week, Mayor Tony Wellington delivered an address covering one of his favourite themes of late – taming tourism. While I sympathise somewhat with the long-term view that Noosa is in danger of being loved to death, Tony may have to deal with the immediately more pressing issue of taming increasingly angry tourism operators.
Not happy, Jan. And you can’t really blame them. We keep hearing that tourism is no longer seasonal, and yet our investment rental still goes up and down, and you could swing a cat quite safely in Hastings Street during last week’s beautiful, clear and crisp winter days. The end may be nigh, but it is not quite here yet.
Of course, the mayor and other thinkers and visionaries who share the doomsday view are projecting a picture of what Noosa will be like in decades long after most of us have shuffled off this mortal coil in search of heavenly point breaks, but it’s worth remembering that no one had pictured what tourism would become back in the early 1960s when Arthur Harrold and friends went to war to stop a road around our headland that would have made Noosa like every other beach in Australia. And if it had gone ahead, we wouldn’t have so many tourists, but many of us wouldn’t be here either. So it pays to heed the warnings of visionaries sometimes.
But you can’t go out and say, sorry folks, go away – Noosa is full! And I don’t believe that Mayor Wellington said that in so many words, or believes that, but the elitist overtones of that and other statements like it are perfect tabloid fodder and on-line click bait. Media all over the country have dumbed down a debate we have to have to the superior tone and irrational substance of your average Donald Trump Tweet, and as Marshall McLuhan noted at about the same time old Arthur was stopping the headland road, the medium is the message.
While the tourism operators are up in arms about Noosa being full, most of them were quite supportive of the mayor’s parallel push for new limitations on short stay accommodation providers, such as Airbnb hosts. (Disclosure: of which I am one.) But that’s just the other side of the same argument – that too many tourists make Noosa unlivable for its permanent residents, largely because day trippers and homestay guests extend the planned carrying capacity beyond functionality. Our roads are clogged and we can’t get a parking spot.
No one wants that, but we all want a healthy economy. And it’s worth remembering that the vast majority of us – Mayor Wellington and myself included – came to live in this beautiful part of the world when it was already a tourist magnet. In fact many of the residents with the loudest voices are tourists who stayed on. And why wouldn’t you?
So when the hysteria dies down and social media goes back to discussing potholes and garage sales, let’s hope we can have some sensible community discussion of this important issue.
Storm in a teacup
Brazil was kind to Sunny Coasters Keely Andrew and Julian Wilson last weekend, with both of them reaching the pointy end of the Oi Rio Pro.
Surfing as an injury replacement, Keely surfed impressively through some tough rounds before bowing out in the semi-finals to Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons who went on to win the event. In the men’s, Julian Wilson’s fifth place finish, after falling unexpectedly to Portugal’s smooth-as-silk Frederico Morais, was enough to rocket last year’s number two back into the top 10 for the first time this season. Julian is still very long odds for a title run this year, but in Brazil he surfed with style, flair and confidence. He looked like a winner again.
In front of a huge and excitable crowd, the Brazil Storm began to fizzle out on finals day, and it looked like one more elimination and things could get ugly. But Fil Toledo saved the day, as we knew he would. Desperate for some sleep on Sunday night, I hung in there to watch Toledo get better and better as the surf got worse and worse.
The guy is so good he doesn’t really need the wave to cooperate. Filipe is sitting at number three and heading north. Look out, world title!
OJ does Paris
I was pretty impressed by the massive crowds at the Rio Pro, but then I saw a post from old mate OJ Newcomb, currently touring Europe as part of the John Butler Trio. Now that’s a really serious crowd!
Band of Frequencies bass player OJ is one of the nicest blokes in the music biz, so I’m absolutely stoked for him. And this is just the start of a month-long tour. Laissez les bon temps rouler, mon pote!
