A single robbery, 23 assaults, 36 unlawful entries, 27 drug offences, 2 trespasses, 2 weapons, and a bunch of traffic (ahem, the M1 motorway) and “other theft” offences. That’s our suburb in the last 12 months. 85% less crime than Palm Beach, 79% less than Coolangatta, 96% less than Southport.

Common replies to this email newsletter tell me that crime is a growing problem in Tugun, but the numbers aren’t there.

We live in one of the best parts of Australia! We have a whole amazing beach to ourselves and you can actually walk to it (or if you’re west of the bowls club then maybe you drive), we have access to an international airport that actually flies internationally (I was looking at Gold Coast to Athens flights yesterday), we’re home to cafes and restaurants people come to from miles around to enjoy (tip of the hat to the power crew at Good Day Coffee who continue to pour out the good stuff any day of the week, regardless of what public holiday it is), and as far as airport noise goes, we just take a Tugun pause a few times a day and it makes it all worth it.

🏉 Touch Football Fields

Our local councillor, Gail, reports in her newsletter:

A portion of Betty Diamond Sports Oval, Tugun is currently being activated as a touch football venue for schools and other sporting groups to alleviate the overuse of Mallawa Sport Complex. Once the project is complete there will be a total of seven touch fields available. Irrigation has been installed at the site in preparation for the project.

Talking about Gail, she’s moving office from Tugun into Coolangatta inside The Strand.

🔫 Gunshots at the airport

I’m prepared to fall on my naive sword on this one. Residents near the airport, like me, have heard sounds like gunshots for years. Maybe you’re as stupid as me and thought “they couldn’t be gunshots, we live in Australia, it must be the sound of things being dropped at a construction site, or at the council depot, or the desal plant.”

And if you were naive like me, we were wrong.

Apparently, they shoot at, or around, birds on the runway to scare them off (or to finish them) to avoid bird strikes on aircraft coming in to land. The more you know.

🛝 Parklands around the Tugun Surf Club

Another steal from Gail’s Facebook page is an update on the Wyberba Street Parklands which is a pretty damn fancy name for our beloved patch of grass and playground around the Tugun Surf Club.

Due to improvements and re-turfing, the park is fenced off and closed for about another month.

🏄🏼‍♀️ Flotsam Festival

Friday night sees Surf World host the book launch of Waterproof, and I wish I could be there (I’m working at a wedding … I’m the celebrant and MC), but if you’re interested, it’s on from 5:30pm.

🏠 It’s all coming up millions

Of the 29 houses that have sold in Tugun this year already, all but five of them sold for over a million. Landmarks in life are a funny thing. We set these arbitrary landmarks in our mind, we won’t sell for less than x, or we can only spend up to y. Regardless of whatever you think your house is worth, or what you would spend to move here today, Tugun is officially a million-dollar suburb now.

In the last month, 11 Akira Street sold for over $1.3M, 42 Marion Street for $1.4M, and 39 Mirreen Drive went for just under $1.2 million dollarydoos.

I’m available this coming Monday May 9 and Friday May 13 for free appraisals if you’d like to get an idea of what your property is worth if it was to sell today.

To make an appointment, hit reply or give me a call on 0411 849 404.

🗳 Federal Election 2022

Last week I asked for your input on what to ask the candidates for McPherson standing in the federal election on May 21.

Some good questions on heavy and light rail through Tugun, tightening airport curfew legislation, and the housing/rental crisis affecting so many.

Please hit reply and let me know issues that are affecting you and our community.

It is worth noting what different levels of government are responsible for, especially considering this is a federal election.

The federal government is responsible for collecting taxes to fund public systems, works, and infrastructure, they pass some of that money onto state governments (who in turn also fund parts of the local government aside from rates), but they are fundamentally responsible for services that affect all Australians.

• Post, telephones and the internet

• Money

• Immigration, passports, and customs

• Defence

• Pensions, family support, and employment

• Media regulation

• Airports and air safety

• Imports and exports

They’ll often make promises, policies, or announcements about things out of their direct control, but it’s because they’re fully or partially funding the project with and through a state or local government.

An example of that kind of funding is when Karen Andrews MP talks about the M1 upgrade that we’re all painfully aware of. Her press release about the upgrade links to a Queensland Government website on the project. Because it’s a Queensland Government project with funding from the Federal Government.

Another talking point is that big yellow bloody billboard on the Gold Coast Highway outside McDonald’s where a big yellow political party makes a promise about loan interest rates. This is a promise they cannot keep.

The Reserve Bank of Australia makes monetary policy/interest rate changes independent of the government.

The Reserve Bank Board makes decisions about monetary policy independently of the political process – that is, it does not accept instruction from the Government of the day on monetary policy.

Trust me, if the government could control interest rates, the sitting government would not want an interest rate rise three weeks out from an election.

So once more, if you have questions for the candidates, let me know via a reply.

Thanks for enjoying another issue of The Tugun Pause. You are one of 250 local residents from the 1800 homes in our suburb. I’d love it if more of our neighbours were subscribers, so please spread the word. Send them to tugunpause.com and they can enter their email address for a free subscription and also read older issues.

The Tugun Pause is published by local Tugun husband, father, marriage celebrant, and real estate agent, Josh Withers 👋🏼.

My inbox is always open for news, information, events, and tips, reach me at josh@withers.co.