Honeymoon over for 2032 Olympics partnership amid SEQ funding flip-flop

A proposal to spend $125 million on a major redevelopment around a fledgling university campus on Brisbane’s northside has been deleted from the latest draft South East Queensland City Deal.

The Mill at Petrie website still says it is part of the yet-to-be finalised SEQ City Deal but Brisbane Times has learnt the federal government has removed the project from the funding list.

City Deal funding has been withdrawn from a proposed mixed-use development at the University of the Sunshine Coast campus at Petrie (above).Credit: Tony Moore

Other projects to be removed include a $105 million expansion of a Griffith University innovation precinct and a $225 million conference centre at Maroochydore.

Ahead of the federal election, the Commonwealth has instead offered a $200 million “innovation fund” and a $287 million South East Queensland Livability Fund.

Relations between federal and state officials have deteriorated to the point where both levels of government have leaked information in the past fortnight to press their case that the other is responsible for stalled negotiations.

The City Deal was meant to underpin their partnership for the 2032 Olympics, set to be facilitated through legislation due to be introduced this week.

Projects removed from the draft City Deal by the federal government

• $125m for The Mill at Moreton Bay, a mixed-use business project on the University of the Sunshine Coast campus at Petrie
• $225m for the Maroochydore Convention Centre
• $105m to expand Griffith University’s  200 hectare Health and Knowledge Precinct on the Gold Coast
• $175 million for a new motorsport entertainment precinct near Wellcamp Airport, Toowoomba
• $59 million to expand the Mater Hospital’s Translational Research Institute 2, set up by philanthropist Chuck Feeney

Federal Cities Minister Paul Fletcher said the list of City Deal projects was the latest offered by the Commonwealth.

“Neither the value of the City Deal nor the list of projects within it have been finalised,” Mr Fletcher said.

“We’ve had positive discussions all year with both the Queensland government and the SEQ Council of Mayors about the list of projects and the package that the Commonwealth has offered in order to get this Deal done,” he said.

“It comprises a set of projects which have all been thoroughly discussed between the Deal partners and which Deal partners have been comfortable with.”

Federal Cities Minister Paul Fletcher (left) – pictured with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg – says the list of proposed SEQ City Deal projects has not been finalised.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Fletcher’s office declined to answer why projects had been removed in recent months.

Brisbane Times understands the SEQ Livability Fund would allow the federal government to directly fund council infrastructure projects, as it has done with similar programs in the past.

Queensland’s City Deal negotiator, Deputy Premier Steven Miles, wrote to Mr Fletcher on October 22 asking why the value of the package decreased from $1.98 billion in March 2021 to $1.27 billion in August 2021.

Mr Miles questioned whether the Commonwealth appreciated the high level of interstate migration and the contribution of Queensland taxpayers to the federal budget.

Projects added to the draft City Deal by the federal government

• A $200 million innovation fund
• A $287 million South-East Queensland Livability Fund
• $30 million to finish the Toowoomba Railway Parkland, a 2011 Toowoomba floods recovery project

“The Queensland government remains committed to signing a South East Queensland City Deal as soon as is practically possible,” Dr Miles wrote.

“However, there are several issues with the proposed Deal and the current package of commitments that remain unresolved.

“The current proposal includes less investment and fewer projects for south-east Queensland.”

Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner, head of the SEQ Council of Mayors, would also need to sign the City Deal. On Tuesday he argued the $40 million set aside for the Resilient River Project should be closer to $200 million over five years.

Projects in the draft City Deal backed by both levels of government

• $240 million for compact-growth population studies
• $3 million for a First Nations cultural centre for Brisbane
• $190.2 million for the Kangaroo Point green bridge
• $41 million for the Dunwich Ferry Terminal
• $2.5 million for Ipswich to Springfield transport options
• $40 million for the Resilient River Project
• $205 million to pipe water from Wivenhoe Dam to Lockyer Valley

“That would make a real impact. That will genuinely change things for the better,” Cr Schrinner said.

“It would genuinely mean that by the 2032 Games, we would have more dolphins in our bay, our dugongs are safe, and there are great recreational opportunities as well.”