Hervey Bay needs its own convention centre

THE BROLGA Theatre is touted as the entertainment heart of the Fraser Coast and is an adequate facility today; it would have been cutting edge thirty years ago. But I believe it’s time to have a serious conversation around the suitability of the Brolga to remain our flagship convention centre moving forward. When it was opened back in July 2000, Maryborough and Hervey Bay were vastly different places to what they are today. That was well prior to the 2008 amalgamation of Hervey Bay and Maryborough into the now Fraser Coast Regional Council. You simply cannot prosecute an argument that

Hervey Bay has not swooped past Maryborough like a gale force, to become the economic, residential and lifestyle powerhouse of the Fraser Coast. Hervey Bay is the growing heart of the Fraser Coast. Like many things, the amalgamation of the regional councils created understandable political bias and that is accentuated by the fact that the Brolga Theatre and Convention Centre is owned and managed by the Fraser Coast Regional Council. I’m not having a crack at FCRC by any stretch, but I don’t see any Maryborough councillors having a bar of supporting a future focused

approach to attracting high end entertainment and economically rich conventions, if it involves competition to the Brolga. For many residents of Hervey Bay, going to Maryborough is like visiting a foreign country. Don’t get upset, you know it’s true. So what is our future plan? Even if we started today, it would be four or five years away. Do we let great shows continue to pass us by; for convention tourism to wither on the vine? It’s a hard conversation that needs to be had. What do you think? Do we need the region’s premier entertainment venue to be located in Hervey Bay? I’d love to know your thoughts.

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