Budget estimates: Minister's plea to CFMEU, Cross River Rail over delays

Ongoing CFMEU protests at Cross River Rail sites have forced thousands of Queenslanders to bypass the Ekka train station to get to the annual show for the second year in a row.ESTIMATES UPDATES

The multiple failings of government-owned corporation CS Energy and the state’s pumped hydro plans will be in the spotlight as budget estimates resumes.

Energy Minister Mick De Brenni and the numerous cashed-up agencies under his responsibility — including Stanwell, CS Energy and Queensland Hydro — will appear first on Tuesday.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart and Transport Minister Bart Mellish will also appear today.

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Updates

9:28 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Estimates continues tomorrow: Final bridge fun facts

Some fun bridge facts to finish off the night courtesy of Transport Minister Bart Mellish.

There are over 3205 bridges on the TMR network, which are, on average, 45 years old. The oldest is 139 years old.

Mr Mellish said they're mostly made of steel concrete (thank goodness), with 36 new bridges erected last year.

Estimates has now finished for the day. But fret not, Minister for Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and Arts Leeanne Enoch will kick off the first hearing at promptly 9am tomorrow, following by Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs Minister Charis Mullen.

Tourism and Sport Minister Michael Healy will make his appearance tomorrow night.

And in case you missed it, here’s what’s happened at estimates to date:
‘Cunning lie’: Calls for Minister who claims she forgot CCC referral to be sacked
First $12bn, then $18bn – now here’s what mega project may really cost
Cross River Rail time frame blows out further, secret documents reveal
State confirms CCC referral after late-night estimates drama
LNP uproar as deputy leader kicked out over corruption query
We have touch down! Full cost of Premier’s twin-jet jaunt FINALLY revealed
Watchdog chief’s stunning spray over government go-slow on corruption reports
Heart attack survival rate plummets amid Qld ambulance ramping crisis
Top bureaucrat admits to hiring spin doctors for public servants
Fears of billion-dollar revenue shortfall amid fresh Olympic stadium scandal
'So nice': 5-star, luxury hotel rooms for Qld's homeless
‘Tokenistic sham’: Steven Miles’ flagship supermarket inquiry cost revealed
Qld CFMEU official gets board job after hit with series of workplace fines
'Complete fantasy' Dick slams notion consultation with miners on royalties was worthwhile
Gabba’s $1bn cost figure sensationally ‘not based on any analysis’
Premier explains twin jet use but cost remains a mystery

9:08 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Turf laid on the Warrego Highway? Minister stumped

In one of the most bemusing moments of tonight’s estimates hearings, Transport Minister Bart Mellish has been provided photo evidence of grass turf that has been laid over the road base on the Warrego Highway between Hatton Vale and Minden.
Naturally, the followup question posed by Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts was, “how much money was wasted on this pointless exercise?”
A bewildered Mr Mellish inspected the photo and agreed, saying it appeared to not be the best use of government resources.
“I'm not a road engineer, but I wouldn't expect that laying turf on the road base is something that should be done,” he said.
“And I wouldn't say that that's a good use of money, so I'm happy to ask my director general about this one…but I'm happy to agree with the member on that, that doesn't look like a wise use of our resources.”
Transport and Main Roads Director-General Sally Stannard said it could be a drainage tactic for water runoff but she would have to seek advice on the specific location.

-Taylah Fellows

8:49 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Transport Minister defends blowout track record

Transport Minister Bart Mellish had been forced to defend the mammoth cost blowout for the Gold Coast Faster Rail project, which increased by 121 per cent – or $3.1bn.
The rail project, jointly funded with the federal government, started out as a $2.6bn track duplication to double services between Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast under then-Transport Minister Mark Bailey.
Mr Bailey was blown away when the Commonwealth in November published a brand new estimated cost of more than $5.7bn on the Department of Infrastructure website, with the project later estimated to cost up to $7bn.
Mr Mellish said the initial cost estimates were made in 2021 and market pressures, including materials, supply chain and labour costs that contributed to the blowout were “well documented”.
“The project is currently up for procurement for contractors (who have been) asked to consider innovative design and construction processes to help ensure the project stays within budget” he said.
“And that's an important point…when you're putting it out for procurement, you actually have to put a believable number out there if you want someone to bid for it.”
Mr Mellish said he wanted to ensure that the government was “coming in with our eyes open” and assessing the full risks of its transport and infrastructure projects.
“That we're assessing the full costs,” he said.
“So that some of these increases that we've seen in the past don't happen into the future.”

-Taylah Fellows

8:24 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

No additional train services planned for six-month 50c fare blitz

Queensland Rail has confirmed there will be no additional services provided during the entire six months of the government's 50c fare trial.
Train services are sitting at 80 capacity compared to pre-Covid levels.
LNP Transport spokesman Steve Minnikin asked Queensland Rail chief executive Katarzyna Stapleton whether she was consulted prior to the announcement.
“I did receive a phone call from the director general on the Friday before the announcement on the Sunday,” she said.
Mr Minnkin then asked whether whistleblower reports about overcrowding concerns held by Queensland Rail were correct and whether the rail service was urgently seeking safety audits ahead of Monday’s 50c fare rollout.
Ms Stapleton said she had “no such knowledge” of overcrowding or safety concerns.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish has assured Queenslanders that transport services across the state had been consulted to determine “services and routes that may experience some pressure across the peak periods during the week” but would not directly answer whether there would be enough services available to meet increased demand.
“There will be no overcrowding and nobody left behind at a bus stop or rail platform when 50c fares are introduced?” Mr Minnikin said.
“The nature of public transport travel is that people can change their habits on a daily basis,” Mr Mellish said.
“We want to see what the demand is out there and we are pulling out all stops to make sure that the network is ready for the increase in demand.”

-Taylah Fellows

8:15 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Uptick in Queenslanders with digital drivers licence

More than 590,000 Queenslanders have now signed up to receive their digital licence.
It’s a significant uptick compared to the 320,000 downloads recorded in January, with around 14 per cent of the state’s 4 million drivers now signed up.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish said feedback had so far been overwhelmingly positive.
“The digital licence is the first digital licence in Australia that is compliant with the international standard,” he said.
“This will enable Queenslanders to travel internationally and have their licences validated where other jurisdictions have built to the standard.”

-Taylah Fellows

7:44 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Bruce Highway stands divided (mostly)

Madura McCormack

It costs between $8m and $10m a kilometre to install wide centre line treatment on the Bruce Highway, TMR head Sally Stannard has confirmed.
This means every $1bn in cost blowouts on a major road project would give Queenslanders 100km of increased safety on the Bruce Highway.
Ms Stannard confirmed that over the last decade, the government has installed more than 800km of wide centre line treatment on Queensland’s most important highway.
As of June, 265.4km of the total 1673.3km stretch is considered “divided,” with a dividing strip between traffic going in opposite directions.
Another 1407.9km is two lanes each way and 184.5km has safer "channelised" right turn intersections.

A remaining 343.7km is yet to receive wide centre line treatment or a channelised right turn.

7:07 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

UPDATED: Qld Rail employee keeps job after unintentionally pushing child onto track

A Queensland Rail driver has kept their job after unintentionally pushing a child onto the tracks.
LNP Transport spokesman Steve Minnikin earlier asked why a Queensland Rail employee who allegedly pushed a child onto an active rail line, was still employed.
Queensland Rail chief executive Katarzyna Stapleton has asked for additional time to seek advice from her department on the matter.
Ms Stapleton has now confirmed the employee in question, a train driver, had been interviewed and CCTV footage of the incident reviewed.
The push was deemed non-deliberate and the driver was let off with a warning.
“The actions of the driver…were certainly not appropriate,” she said.
“The driver during the interview was very honest and deeply remorseful.
“The footage was reviewed, and it was very clear there was not a deliberate push action, it was a reflex action, and certainly not intended to be deliberate at all.
“As I mentioned before, this was not on the standing that QR expects, so it was a breach of conduct, and the driver has received now a final warning.”

-Taylah Fellows

6:29 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Ekka station shut in major blow for annual showgoers

Madura McCormack

Ongoing CFMEU protests at Cross River Rail sites have forced thousands of Queenslanders to bypass the Ekka train station to get to the annual show for the second year in a row.
A Cross River Rail Delivery Authority spokesman confirmed the new Exhibition Train Station cannot be opened temporarily for this year’s Ekka.
“While this news will no doubt be disappointing to Ekka goers, the recommendation was made with safety front of mind,” a spokesman said.
“Recent and ongoing interruptions to work schedules at the Exhibition site have seen 11 of 15 possible workdays lost between 16 and 30 July, and the remaining four partially impacted.
“This has meant that work was unable to be completed to ensure proper safety certification could be achieved prior to the event.”
The spokesman said important works such as “installing handrails, paving, and lift and fire certification that was on track to be completed prior to the expected handover ahead of the Ekka has been unable to occur”.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish said he was “frustrated” that Ekka-goers could not go to the annual show via the station.

6:04 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Commuters must tap off during 50c fare trial period or be hit with small fine

Madura McCormack

Commuters who fail to tap off during the 50 cent public transport fare period will still be slugged a penalty the Department of Transport and Main Roads has confirmed.
TMR director-general Sally Stanard confirmed the department needed people to tap off in order to capture the data needed to analyse the trial, and thus had decided to still charge a penalty.
It will be substantially lower than usual—at $2.50.
Anyone who forgets to tap off and is slugged a penalty can contact the call centre and get it sorted.

5:45 pm July 30, 2024 Highlight

Timelines for Cross River Rail re-negotiated under 'Project Craft'

Madura McCormack

Cross River Rail project milestones were re-negotiated between the delivery authority and the contractor as part of an internal discussion known as “Project Craft”.
But the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority head Graeme Newton has refused to confirm whether key dates have been moved as a result, citing commercial-in-confidence.
Internal Cross River Rail documents, obtained by the Opposition and seen by the Courier-Mail, revealed a number of key milestones have been missed or pushed back, some by up to 18 months.

Cross River Rail construction.

The document, from earlier in 2024, show the date for the first slow speed train into the tunnel was due to take place on May 31. That is yet to occur after plans to do it on the weekend were abandoned for a later date.
Final acceptance of the project was scheduled for June 2025 but was pushed back, according to the document to December 2026.