🚤 Crackdown on GC boatie speeding as safety patrols begin
Volume 136: Helensvale local wins $200k | Sora beats ChatGPT for downloads | Broadbeach intersection upgrade and heaps more
G’day and welcome back to another GC Minute Thursday.
The northerlies are ripping in and it feels like summer, barely halfway into spring 🥲
It’s October 9.
In today's newsletter
One Big Thing: 595 new local homes underway for the needy
Gold Coast hinterland gears up for: Disaster resilience weekend
Crackdown on local: Boatie speeding as patrols begin
Trending: Crisfulli’s pill testing ban
Around the web: Helensvale local wins $200k | Sora beats ChatGPT for downloads | Broadbeach intersection upgrade and heaps more
Upcoming events
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*Brisbane includes the Gold Coast
1. One Big Thing: 595 GC homes underway for the needy
By Marshall Hall
What’s Happening: Gold Coast battlers struggling to find accommodation now have a glimmer of hope on the distant horizon with the State Government saying this week that it now has 595 “social and affordable homes” under construction or under contract across the region.
Why It Matters: With articles throughout the year highlighting the nationwide rental and housing affordability crisis that has been unfolding, right-sized, vulnerable-focused stock moves people off waitlists, supports independence, and frees larger homes for families.
By the Numbers
Including 36 fast-tracked in Southport for the City’s most vulnerable, some of the new homes include:
158 in Southport
12 in Coomera
29 Helensvale
53 Nerang
What The People Say: Housing Minister Sam O’Connor said the State Government wanted to deliver 2000 homes a year to meet social and community housing needs.
“We’re ramping up construction to deliver 2,000 social and community homes each year by the end of this term,’’ he said.
“Fast-tracked projects like these 36 new homes in Southport are vital to meeting the need for social and community housing for Gold Coasters waiting for a place to call home.
Community Housing State Manager Carly Bairstow said the Southport social housing project was developed for Queenslanders aged 55 and over.
“The Southport project will give older Queenslanders the chance to live in a right-sized home, that is modern and accessible and enables independence and connection to their community,” Ms Bairstow said.
What To Look For Next: The full article below.
2.
Gold Coast hinterland gears up for disaster resilience weekend
Local community groups in Mudgeeraba and Bonogin are set to host a weekend of natural disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience events on Saturday 11 October and Sunday 12 October 2025.
3. Crackdown on GC boatie speeding as patrols begin
What’s Happening: Maritime Safety Queensland has launched a six-month compliance campaign urging boaties and personal watercraft (PWC) riders to slow down, keep a proper lookout, and wear lifejackets with patrols targeting unsafe behaviour, especially speeding and non-compliance.
Why It Matters: Spring and summer bring the busiest traffic on local waterways, and the more vigorous enforcement aims to prevent avoidable injuries and fatalities by lifting compliance where risk is highest.
By the Numbers
Region-specific statistics revealed higher speeding rates among PWC riders in South East Queensland with 40% of intercepted PWC riders on the Gold Coast speeding, versus 28% statewide.
$333 is the starting fine for speeding on Queensland waterways.
6 months is the campaign duration across the state.
In December 2024, Queensland introduced new lifejacket rules for high-risk situations.
What The People Say: Maritime Safety Queensland General Manager Kell Dillon said waterways become busiest during the warmer months, and there is no room for complacency.
“With our waterways at their busiest during the holidays, there is no room for complacency, skippers and personal watercraft riders must take safety seriously to avoid tragic outcomes,” Mr Dillon said.
“Too often we are seeing jet skis and tinnies weaving through busy waterways at high speed, putting families, children, paddlers and other boaties at risk,” he said.
What To Look For Next: All vessels doing the legal speed limit of 6 knots when within 60 metres of people in the water, shorelines, pontoons, and anchored vessels.
Recent newsletters
4. Trending
5. Around The Web (Snippets)
It’s hard to imagine, but Sora, OpenAI’s video-generating app, experienced a: Bigger first week in the app store than ChatGPT, with Sora’s 627,000 downloads versus ChatGPT’s 606,000
Discord said that as many as: 70,000 users may have had their government IDs leaked in a data breach
Mysterious artifacts were donated to a thrift shop that experts are now thinking could: Date back to medieval times
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has amassed a whopping: 800,000,000 weekly users, according to CEO Sam Altman, after letting users connect to Spotify
Weekly Dream Gig
This week: Sharpen your models! Gold Coast Health needs a Data Scientist to turn hospital data into smarter care at Southport, Gold Coast QLD.
You’ll deliver ML/AI analytics, lead projects, probe systems, and build monitoring that lasts.
Temporary full-time (12 months, extension possible) on $150,906–$159,677 plus 12.75% super, with flexible work, 17.5% leave loading, salary packaging, career development, research time and facilities to boot.
6. Upcoming Events
🏀 2025–26 NBL Ignite Cup — from 8 Oct to 22 Feb, A new basketball tournament; the championship game will be held at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre on the Gold Coast,
🤾 Gold Coast Titans All Schools (GCTAS) Touch Football Tournament — 11 Oct – 12 Oct, One of the world’s largest school touch football events, held at the Gold Coast Performance Centre (32 fields, ~600 teams)
🏃 fisiocrem GC50 Run Festival — 12 Oct 2025, Running celebration in the southern Gold Coast: includes 50 km ultra, half marathon, 10 km, 5 km & kids’ dash.
📊 CPA Congress 2025 – Gold Coast — Tue, 14 Oct to Thu, 16 Oct
Australia’s flagship finance and leadership event, featuring 50+ speakers on AI, ethics, sustainability and more at the GCCEC, Broadbeach.🏎 2025 Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 (Supercars) — 24 Oct – 26 Oct, Sun, surf and Supercars! The Boost Mobile Gold Coast Round is back for Round 11 of the 2025 Calendar
