Mayor accuses State Govt of ‘pulling another Adani’ over Brisbane Metro delays

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has accused the Palaszczuk Government of ‘pulling another Adani’ as the council fends off crippling delays that are holding up works on Brisbane Metro.

LORD Mayor Adrian Schrinner has accused the Palaszczuk Government of ‘pulling another Adani’ as the council fends of crippling delays that are holding up works on Brisbane Metro.

Cr Schrinner today revealed all designs for the Cultural Centre precinct of the project will have to be shelved after the State Government refused to give the component of the project the green light.

Instead, the station will now have to be built under the Convention and Exhibition Centre at South Brisbane, despite the council holding over 200 meetings about the project with State Government officials.

“Don’t make this another Adani,” he pleaded in his address to the media club today.

“It’s a project that will provide massive flow-on benefits across the region.

“This project is a project that is suffering the same delays as the Adani mine. It is clear to me right now that this project is on a go-slow for purely political reasons.

“It’s Brisbane’s Adani and the same people are responsible for slowing it down.”

Construction of an underground tunnel for the Brisbane Metro was planned to start in 2020 and will form part of a vision to transform Adelaide Street into a premier green, shady and accessible entryway to the CBD.

He called on the State Government to tick off approvals on other early works so construction could begin soon, but Cr Schrinner could not guarantee that services would begin as scheduled by 2023.

He also would not speculate on if the cost for the $944 million would be pushed over $1 billion as a result of the delays.

“Projects don’t get cheaper if they’re delayed,” he said.

“It didn’t have to be this way. It didn’t have to be this hard.”

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey says the State Government wants to get the Brisbane Metro project right. River. Picture: Jerad Williams

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the Government still supported the Metro on principle, but they would not be rushed to suit Cr Schrinner’s election timetable.

“There are a range of other unresolved issues including design,” he said.

“Which large bus will be selected, its specifications and performance on the busway; scale of construction impacts and managing disruptions to commuters; and who will bear the cost for the operation of the system.

“We need to do further work together to make sure this project is done right.”

Labor’s lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding said Cr Schrinner loved to blame other people for his problems, adding that he had no confidence services would commence by 2023.