Internal state government emails show a Queensland MP supported a project change that would see work done on land owned by two of her supporters, one of whom is a local councillor.

In October, this masthead reported that workers from a government program would renovate buildings on a Russell Island block owned by Redlands councillor Shane Rendalls for crisis accommodation, in a plan promoted by the local LNP MP, Rebecca Young.

Rendalls has repeatedly said the program was organised under the previous Labor government before the LNP won the 2024 election, but Department of Training emails acquired through right to information laws show the details were still being nutted out in March this year.

In one email, a department official said Young approved of a change to the program that would see workers from the $630,000 project deployed on the land Rendalls owns jointly with the local chamber of commerce president, Dan Golin, who also volunteered for Young’s election campaign.

Applications for the program were closed in September 2024, but the emails show a manager from the approved training provider, Skill360, asked the department to shift where the work was to be done, from the local bowls club to Rendalls’ and Golin’s land.

It was the department’s decision to make, not Young’s, and there is no suggestion she had a conflict of interest that needed to be declared.

The block where the project landed, known locally as Dugong Cove, had seven dilapidated cabins and a three-bedroom home on it when the pair bought it for $975,000 in April last year, shortly after Rendalls was elected.

The plan was to renovate the cabins to house vulnerable people, and transform the house into a community space.

“The owner, Dan Golin, has purchased this land to develop purely for community facilities to be used free of charge ongoing,” the email from Skill360 project manager Kristie Kelly to the department said.

In response to an email running the request up the chain, department program manager Peter Hodges said he was supportive of the move.

“I have seen it and we had Rebecca Young – Member Redland, and she also likes the idea of it being a community setting and housing for vulnerable people at times like this,” Hodges said, adding the department would make sure no funds were given to the landholders.

Projects that receive Skilling Queenslanders for Work funding must benefit the broader community. The Russell Island project was for 24 trainees to receive a Certificate I in construction while working at various sites.

Young promoted the project on her Facebook page in August this year.

“Skill360 is training 24 locals on Russell Island in construction while transforming housing into vital community space,” she wrote.

Golin and Rendalls have been supportive of Young.

Rendalls wrote a glowing endorsement that was printed on campaign material in the lead-up to last year’s state election, while Golin handed out how-to-vote cards in a blue LNP “Rebecca Young for Redlands” T-shirt.

The state government said it had no plans to operate on the island site once the works were complete. The crisis accommodation would be run by a company called Good Wilma, which was registered in June – three months after the email chain – with Golin, wife Michelle, and Rendalls’ wife, Elizabeth, listed as its operators.

Skill360 officially pulled the plug on the project through its parent company, BUSY at Work, in October, just two days after this masthead reported the landowners’ support for the local member.

In a blog post on the day this masthead published the story, Rendalls said the property owners were unhappy with the work and had pulled out a month before.

In a statement, BUSY at Work said “the local host program” had decided not to proceed with further works on the property.

A department spokesperson said the project change was approved because it demonstrated value to the local community.

Young said the safety of victim-survivors was a top priority, but she did not answer questions about her connections with Rendalls and Golin.

“I welcome additional domestic violence accommodation for the Redlands, after the former Labor government failed to implement DV reforms, putting victim-survivors at risk,” she said.

A Redland City Council spokesperson said they were unaware of the project moving to Rendalls’ land.

Rendalls said he had no role in the operation of Good Wilma, though he had previously described the not-for-profit as “our giving back to the community”.

Golin was also contacted for comment.

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