9:17p.m. 22nd November 2008

| By Blythe Seinor

Graeme Hall painting over graffiti on Maroochydore Rd. Kuluin. Photo: Cade Mooney/179572

Graeme Hall has one wish for Christmas.

He would like to drive from one end of the Sunshine Coast to the other without travelling past a single bit of graffiti.

But neither Santa, nor Main Roads, has been able to guarantee his wish by December 25, so Mr Hall has again decided to take matters into his own hands.

After a six-week break, Mr Hall was back at Maroochydore Road yesterday with a generator and tins of grey paint to paint over graffiti.

He was warned in September, by Main Roads minister Warren Pitt, that he could face charges for his actions.

Mr Pitt said Mr Hall’s safety and the safety of drivers could be at risk if he continued to work on the side of the road.

“It may be better for him to voice his concern and let Main Roads deal with this,” Mr Pitt said in September.

Since then, Mr Hall said the state government had done a “wonderful job” painting over graffiti on the eastern side of the Sunshine Motorway, but said the work was only half done.

“The western side still has a bit of a problem, the graffiti is behind trees, but it’s still noticeable,” he said.

Mr Hall said when he heard a rumour the job would not be done by Christmas, he decided to resume the work at his own expense.

“Apart from having a million tourists coming to this place, the first thing they would see is graffiti,” he said.

He said the community needed to take ownership of the problem, so that state government and local government followed suit to get graffiti stamped out.

Member for Kawana Steve Dickson said he would like to see Sunshine Coast Regional Council employ someone to paint over graffiti.

“One person dedicated to do this could wipe out graffiti on the Coast,” he said.

“This is not a hard thing to eradicate.

“It would say ‘yes, we are proud of where we live’, and ‘no, we don’t like graffiti’.”

He said he continued to be supportive of Mr Hall’s work and described him as a great representative and resident of the Sunshine Coast.

Mr Hall’s expenses from yesterday cost about $800.

Anyone who would like to donate should contact Mr Hall via email at gh878@bigpond.com.

Donations can be made at Westpac bank to account name Mission Brown, with account number 284977 and BSB 034676.