AUSTRALIA: JUNGLE BEHIND BEACH

IF only the Palm Beach drowning last Thursday was an exception to an
idyllic lifestyle in this sublime stretch of the Gold Coast.

Few living on the shoreline at Palm Beach are in any hurry to
move.

This end of the Gold Coast has more than a picturesque
setting.

It is close to important family facilities such as schools and
shopping centres. The waterways and lakes are not all pounding surf
influenced by the elements. The M1 is handy; the Tugun bypass is over
budget but may be finished this year.

The airport is around the corner and the train line will eventually be
running along the M1.

Palm Beach itself is recognised as one of the cleanest on the Gold
Coast. Anyone living under the poincianas and frangipanis on the beach
side of Jefferson Lane is sitting on real estate worth millions and
millions.

But you do not have to peel away too many layers to sense there is a
Logan City jungle threatening Palm Beach and neighbouring southern
Gold Coast suburbs.

Start on Palm Beach itself. Everyone knows only to swim between the
flags but the beachside dwellers with experience do it regularly
without waiting for the holiday/weekend patrols by Pacific Surf Life
Saving Club towards the south.

Kids board-surfing use the rips to work their way out behind the
breakers.

But beach residents have become fed up with regular drama in the
water.

Some Palm Beach mums recently told The Gold Coast Bulletin they would
sooner pay their $10,000 a year in rates directly into a fund for the
lifeguard service which covers most other Gold Coast beaches.

Tourists, particularly British or European visitors more accustomed to
the tranquil waters of the Mediterranean, find our beaches
irresistible. Flags? What flags?

It is a bit like the road safety message. Disaster appears unlikely or
destined for someone else. The flags message is quickly lost on
holiday-minded newcomers when the sun is shining and the water and
beach so breathtaking.

Beach residents observing trouble in the surf can ring for assistance
but may be told by some clown at the nearest surf club that they are
too busy serving beers.

So they have to run more than 800m up the beach to find the permanent
lifeguard stationed near Tallebudgera Creek.

Response would be quicker if an accident occurred at a public pool at
Logan City.

Jann Stuckey, MP from Fifth Avenue, Palm Beach, to the border, was
horrified when The Bulletin raised the Logan City comparison.

"No!"

But drug deals occur regularly across the road from Samuel Plaza on
the Gold Coast Highway where Stuckey's bunker occupies the northern
wing and federal MP Margaret May occupies the southern wing. The twin
Liberals' fortress says more for the gentrification and real estate
boom in the area rather than the human flotsam and jetsam haunting the
electorates.

For people who have not ventured past Burleigh in recent years, Samuel
Plaza is about a nine iron from the sand.

The State Government's syringe dispenser centre is about another nine
iron across the highway near the Palm Beach pub. Not surprisingly, the
streets, pavements and phone boxes near the pub are havens for the
drug deals.

Some of the cafes and saloons in the area were forced to install blue
lights in the lavatories to make procedures more difficult for the
losers injecting their veins.

Government inspectors -- jolted into action by the arrival of the
needle exchange centre -- are demanding that some businesses install
syringe disposal units to safeguard staff.

Drug flavour of the month in Palm Beach is 'Strawberry Ice'. This
rocket-powered amphetamine is either smoked in special pipes or
injected and was 'pinked up' to enhance its box office appeal to
females and teenagers.

By an unfortunate coincidence for the drug capital of the Gold Coast,
Palm Beach-Currumbin High School is only down the road towards
Currumbin Creek.

So with the beach across the Gold Coast Highway, a landmark pub in the
block and one of the state's busiest secondary campuses nearby, some
genius in the State Government decided to open the syringe dispenser
centre for drugheads.

One customer receives up to four parcels of syringes per
day.

Government comeback probably is that $80,000 was recently allocated to
upgrade lighting in popular Laguna Park to make the area safer. High
school kids like to hang out there. Gang culture is a way of life.

Certainly park usage has not always worked smoothly. A playground for
disabled children dices with vandalism. Anti-social activity around
Laguna Park is scarcely likely to decrease with the the needle supply
centre opening for business. Even with the latest $80,000.

Voters have not necessarily fallen for government propaganda that
needle exchange centres are part of the community.

Remember that more than 2000 locals around Palm Beach signed a
petition of opposition.

Voters probably are entitled to become paranoid when the syringe
service follows the expansion of Centrelink and pawn shop services at
the Logan City end of the Gold Coast.

Ms Stuckey conceded that the reputation of the Palm Beach and
surrounding areas sagged 10 years ago.

"But the community would reject any critical tags these days. We are
certainly not apathetic down here. Look at recent protests about the
Currumbin Sanctuary, Kirra Hill and the Ocean Walkway," she said.

Palm Beach was losing its reputation as a rental capital as increasing
numbers of families returned to live in the area, Ms Stuckey said.

But the MP for Currumbin will probably have to endure more than a
syringe dispensary while she remains in parliament.

Locals expect a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts in the
electorate will not be far behind.

The Gold Coast City Council, despite a conciliatory reporting line on
its website, is also not offering too many favours for Palm Beach. The
council appears hellbent on ramming through the Ocean Walkway proposal
which will link seven streets along Palm Beach.

Residents have long voiced concerns that the pathway will only
encourage and assist illegal activity next to the water's edge.

Winders Park at Currumbin Creek also may come off second best when
'pending' council and project reports are completed. A fiery public
meeting before Christmas highlighted concerns that disabled access may
be limited if road access is replaced by a walkway.

It gets worse. The John Flynn Hospital may encounter some vehicle
access problems when the Tugun Bypass is completed.

Rocking buses remains a problems with youthful stickbrains. Older
locals want to throw rocks at the Tugun desalination plant.

Little wonder that the sands and surf on Palm Beach itself appear such
a welcome diversion.