Former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: Get light rail to airport for Olympics or it’s embarrassing
Ex-Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk whose governments co-funded tram extensions has revealed timeline fears as light rail stalls. FULL STORY + POLL
Gold Coast
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Ex-Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is calling for urgency extending light rail south to the border, saying it will be “embarrassing” if the city is not connected by the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in south-east Queensland.
The three-term Premier who is fond of the Gold Coast and spends plenty of downtime in the tourism capital urged the state government to “get on with it”.
Ms Palaszczuk, who has rarely weighed in on public issues since exiting politics in 2023 after nine years as Premier, said it was “absolutely envisaged” by her and her government when funding various stages that it would extend to Gold Coast Airport by 2032.
“We were committed to funding all the light rail stages and it’s a no brainer to extend it all the way to the airport..
“It is needed for the Olympics, it’s absolutely critical. You will have people flying into the Gold Coast and to Brisbane and those two airports need to be connected by public transport.
“You can’t tell people on the Gold Coast to catch taxis to Brisbane and Varsity Lakes. Light rail is the missing link.
“It was the missing link for the 2018 Commonwealth Games from Helensvale to the university precinct - and we made the critical decision to push that in time for the Commonwealth Games and always envisaged it would be completed for the Olympics.
“Now time is of the essence and we need everyone to work together to get it connected.”
Her call for haste comes as the Crisafulli-led State Government sticks to its pre-election promise for a review of light rail south which is mid-consultation. Mayor Tom Tate in his regular Bulletin column on Saturday urged decision-makers not to let “flawed data” stop light rail extensions because not extending it to the border would choke the growing Gold Coast and turn it into a “carpark”.
Ms Palaszczuk added: “Every time the light rail gets extended communities have been concerned about the impacts on traffic, and that they have to slow down and the impacts on business - which I can appreciate - but at the end of the day when connected, it is so popular, it’s a huge selling point for tourism.
“If they are doing a review of the route or whatever, it needs to be accelerated because time is of the essence.”
Griffith University transport expert Matthew Burke told the Bulletin on Monday heavy rail to the airport was potentially 50 years away and his preference was to see light rail extended.
Ms Palaszczuk added she’s “a big fan of the light rail” and the numbers using it prove its worth. It is clocking up more than one million passenger trips per month.
“You can see the benefits. I was the Transport Minister and I was the Premier when most of it was delivered. I worked well with Tom Tate. It is critical infrastructure. I’m a huge fan and you just need to get on with it.”
Asked what the perception would be of the Gold Coast in her opinion if it wasn’t connected by 2032, she said: “It would be embarrassing. We want to showcase the Gold Coast to the world, the eyes of the world are going to be on the Gold Coast - movement to and from the airport will be critical up and down the tram lines to events. The longer it takes to deliver, the more it will cost. Get on with it.
“It’s transformational for the Gold Coast. It was always criticised when it was first mooted - but look at it now and how many people are using it.”
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Originally published as Former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: Get light rail to airport for Olympics or it’s embarrassing
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