Gold Coast Mayor Tom pod-Tate-o and his Surfers Plaza backpacker factory

In Queensland, it is apparently illegal for property developers to make donations to politicians or for politicians to accept them. Yet this doesn't seem to prohibit property developers such as the Gold Coast's Tom "Have-a-Go" Tate from being the city's Mayor and property magnate simultaneously.

Whatever name Tom Tate takes, when it comes to the Surfers Plaza Resort, there's a definite whiff. Not long ago, this perfectly situated 15-storey resort in Surfers Paradise smelled sweet. Beaches on one side, hill and river views on the other, and billiard-table bowling greens below. Quiet, peaceful, clean.

But in 2005, Tom "Have-a-Go" Tate came for the Surfers Paradise Bowls Club. He took it. In 2012, he became Mayor. Then he came for the Surfers Plaza Resort’s carparks. He took them. Lately, he seems to be after Plaza residents' equity, amenity and even peace of mind.

We are not, mind you, alleging any illegality by Tate with respect to the Surfers Plaza Resort. It is true that Mayor Tate has been found to have committed at least 14 counts of official misconduct as Gold Coast Mayor and been fined several thousands of dollars, including for conflicts of interest.

And yes, this publication has, over our ten-year-long investigation into Tate and his associates, pointed out his many dubious connections, such as with notorious Croatian-born gangster Frankie "Four Names" Kovacevic.

And certainly, we have made complaints to various authorities – including the Queensland Police – about Mayor Tate allegedly making off with an elderly man's original Picasso painting, allegedly trading in fake forestry bonds and allegedly perjuring himself in court, along with a host of other well-documented allegations the authorities ignored. But we are not alleging any criminality here. Not as the law stands now, anyway.

This story is the curious tale of a Mayor at war with some of his own constituents — the residents of the Surfers Plaza Resort.

Despite its Resort name, many of those residing in the 15-storey Surfers Plaza are permanent. Residents who would have been assured that a place in the downstairs carpark would be available for them to use into perpetuity. Because that was what the Council specified in the Resort and Bowl's Club complex's original 1987 development approval.

But no, Tate's Council removed the Plaza Resort residents' carpark guarantee in 2022, while the Mayor moved to personally acquire the last quarter of the former Bowls Club he hadn't yet purloined. He finished this controversial, gradual 20-year acquisition – most of it since becoming Mayor – earlier this year. And then Have-a-Go" Tate promptly locked all the Resort residents out of what they had long understood to be their carpark — keeping all 150 spaces for himself.

You can also read more about how Tom Tate hoodwinked Surfers Paradise Bowls Club members out of their land, and Resort residents out of their carpark HERE.

The Tate of Queensland: Right Time Tom, the wheeler dealer mayor

Independent Australia makes an important new revelation about the recent purchase of a Gold Coast bowls club site by the City's Mayor.

But not only have the Plaza Resort's parking rights ceased, but last year, Have-a-Go Tate leased the former bistro and bar area of the ex-Bowls Club, located on the Resort's first level, to a "pod" backpacker hostel. The Surfers Plaza Resort has 146 units in total. But now, somehow, 270 backpackers may reside on one floor in “pods” crammed into a single room.

The project was originally rejected by the majority of Gold Coast City councillors in 2023, due to the density of the accommodation not meeting the City Plan, the lack of car parking (as mentioned above) and for fire safety reasons.

Tate's tenant, Alfonso Abril, appealed the decision to the State Development Court. He won! The "pod" place is called "Tequila Sunrise Hostel". It opened in May last year, 2024.

Interestingly, the Resort's building manager, Greg Kafritsas, previously worked as the manager of a somewhat similar low-rent backpacker-style establishment, The Beachcomber, two blocks closer to the beach.

Have-a-Go Tate also used to own and run a backpackers hostel, called The Islander, on the block between the Plaza Resort and The Beachcomber. In 1999, Tate started a Gold Coast backpacker hostel price war by selling $2 beds at The Islander. The parallels seem strong.

Now residents have to share the communal areas with 270 extra people, so the pool and barbeque areas are frequently full, smoke is in the air, bikes lie outside and often obstruct the internal fire escapes. There are sometimes parties on the Bowl Club's former greens. The once pristine Surfers Plaza Resort is, overall, pervaded now by mess and grunge. Where once was serenity, now there is chaos.

Of course, allied with this chaos, units in the resort have suffered a decline in market values since losing their car parks. Also affecting real estate valuations, as well as hitting residents’ purses every quarter, is the incredible increase in body corporate levies since 2022, when the Council Tate heads sold the last quarter of the Bowls Club, not already owned by Mayor Tate, to another local developer who in 2025 sold it to Tate.

The increases are remarkable – between 50 and 131% – much of it to pay for more cleaning, maintenance and security.

Because a backpacker hostel is now hosting 270 more people on the lower two floors. This also means no insurance agency will now provide building cover for the resort, except for insurer of last resort, Lloyds of London — which is not cheap.

The building cover premiums, for instance, have almost doubled in the year since Alfonso Abril started shoe-horning hundreds of tourists into pods every night.

Because of this, in August this year, an AGM of the body corporate passed a motion that the “backpackers” should pay 63% of the insurance premium. This motion was appealed and just yesterday, the official Body Corporate adjudicator overturned this seemingly equitable decision, effectively making everyone pay for the luxury of having Tom and Fonzi’s charming accommodation in their building.

Residents who may have complained to the building manager about all the issues raised by the overflow of transient residents have seen no resolution.

Indeed, some residents say they have been told by the body corporate to stop complaining to Kafritsas because he frequently uses a legal firm to reply to residents' complaints and intimidate them. This is paid for by the Body Corporate's sinking fund and is also pushing up levies.

Given Kafritsas is paid a quarter of a million dollars a year to manage the property, about $100,000 more than the industry standard, one might expect he would have the expertise to handle most issues directly.

Mayor Tate had plans not too long ago to develop a resort on the site of the Bowls Club, called Waterglow. But, as we detailed in our last investigation, this project was rejected following a corruption inquiry. Corruption inquiries seem to follow Tate around like the smoky scent of sativa.

Now, Tate owns the entire former Bowls Club and is well on the way to his obvious goal, driving out the permanent residents of the Surfers Plaza Resort by making the resort unpleasant and uneconomic for other owners.

Not for Tate and Alfonso, though. The Surfers Plaza Resort would be an even better earner for Tom Have-a-Go Tate to sell off to one of his property developer cronies without a noisy minority of beleaguered residents complaining. Doubtless, the whole process would be far less controversial.