Treasurer rules out council green bridge money before it can ask

Brisbane City Council has not formally approached the Queensland Treasurer for a funding contribution for its $550 million green bridge program prior to or since its announcement in 2019, despite initially only planning to front two-thirds of the cost itself.

The revelation, and rejection of any future appeal by Cameron Dick, follow the announcement of a successful tenderer for the flagship $190 million bridge from Kangaroo Point to the city’s Botanic Gardens last month.

A concept image of the now-updated Kangaroo Point green bridge design.Credit: Brisbane City Council

Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner announced the five-to-10-year vision just minutes after being voted in as the incoming council leader and days after his predecessor Graham Quirk’s retirement call in late March of 2019, to reduce congestion while boosting public and active transport use.

At the time, he said a third of the funding would need to come from the state and federal governments.

Treasurer Cameron Dick said on Thursday he had not received any request from the council to fund the inner-city bridge program since taking the portfolio in May last year, but said there would be no point even trying.

“I’ll save them the trouble of asking, because the answer is no,” Mr Dick said in a response to questions. “Brisbane City Council is Queensland’s richest council, and is getting richer, having just jacked up rates by 3.75 per cent.”

While a formal budget funding request had not been forthcoming to Mr Dick or his predecessor Jackie Trad, the state government did contribute $230,000 towards an early Kangaroo Point bridge case study. The council said last year it was willing to go it alone and fully fund it and the Breakfast Creek link at a cost of $257 million.

Late last month, Cr Schrinner announced the Connect Brisbane consortium, led by construction company BESIX Watpac, would build the CBD bridge not only as a functional purpose but a tourist attraction after the tender was amended to allow commercial opportunities such as the boutique bar and restaurant during the last council session.

He said the two planned West End bridges were expected to be constructed next and had been hopeful for state or federal funding in the upcoming City Deal.

At the time of the 2019 announcement, a business case was already under way for the pedestrian and cycle-only Kangaroo Point bridge, with a link between the existing riverwalk network over Breakfast Creek also pitched. Both are now expected to be constructed by late 2023 after being fast-tracked last year.

Two West End bridges were also flagged to connect the high-density inner-city suburb with both Toowong and St Lucia. The latter was also pitched as supporting public transport – a feature not included in the ongoing planning work for the site finalised this year.

The fifth bridge, a now-mooted link between Bellbowrie and Wacol, was dropped after a lack of community interest. Efforts to find a replacement site are ongoing, but the council has largely ruled out any others east of the Story Bridge.

Public and active transport committee chair Ryan Murphy said bridge infrastructure was usually built by the state government but, as it had not delivered any new river crossings since 2009’s Kurilpa Bridge, the council had stepped in to ensure the city “continued to evolve for the better”.

“We always made it clear that if required we will fully fund the fast-tracked Kangaroo Point and Breakfast Creek green bridges,” Cr Murphy said in a statement responding to questions on Thursday. “The draft business cases for the two West End bridges is now under way and once completed we will make these public and share them with other levels of government.”

“There have been positive discussions with state and federal governments about potential green bridge funding since 2019. These discussions will continue as we progress with the delivery of the green bridges program.”

A spokeswoman for federal Urban Infrastructure and Cities Minister Paul Fletcher said the SEQ City Deal was still being developed with agreement needed by all three levels of government.

“The Commonwealth and council have had discussions regarding a range of projects that will deliver sustainable growth through better access to jobs and community-enabling infrastructure and services,” she said.

The council’s Labor opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, said the LNP administration had rushed out promising to build five bridges it could not afford and did not have funding for as a “pre-election media stunt”.

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