Dreamworld under pressure to build planned koala research centre

Dreamworld has used government funding earmarked for a special project to build a new rollercoaster instead.

Dreamworld has come under renewed pressure to make good on a plan to build a koala research centre after the Gold Coast theme park used government funding earmarked for the project to build a new rollercoaster instead.

Dreamworld was given $2.7 million in Queensland government funding in 2019 to build a state-of-the-art koala “Future Lab”, but the money was quietly “repurposed” – with State government blessing, towards the park’s Steel Taipan rollercoaster which opened to the public last summer.

The revelation was revealed in July, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urging Dreamworld to “do the right thing” and proceed with the research centre using private funds.

Dreamworld had long planned to build a koala research centre before gaining State government blessing to divert the money towards a new rollercoaster. Picture: Jerad Williams

However, in announcing its $50 million long-term vision for the park last week featuring new rides, roller-coasters and themed entertainment areas, there was no sign of the research centre, prompting renewed criticism from political leaders and koala conservationists alike.

Gold Coast City Councillor Hermann Vorster, who spent months questioning State government departments about the fate of the centre before its fate was revealed in a parliamentary Question Time sitting, wrote to the Premier this week and said the absence of the koala future lab from Dreamworld’s plans was a slap in the face to conservation efforts.

“There’s palpable disappointment the future lab is just that — something pushed into the distant future,” he said.

“The State and Dreamworld lifted expectations into the stratosphere and the two must work together to finally get this done.”

Gold Coast city councillor Hermann Vorster. Picture: Jerad Williams

A spokesman for Ms Palaszczuk said the Premier’s position had not changed since she said Dreamworld should “do the right thing” and proceed with the koala centre.

“The Premier maintains that they should deliver what they said they would,” he said.

In July, Dreamworld said the planned koala facility was “on hold” and in a statement to The Courier-Mail on Saturday, a park spokesperson said “our position has not changed”, but would not elaborate.

The research centre was viewed as a key weapon in helping to preserve the koalas, who face threats on multiple fronts including habitat loss and the equally devastating effects of the chlamydia disease.

Dreamworld - Almost $3m in taxpayer cash handed to Dreamworld for a koala-research facility was instead repurposed and used to build the theme park’s Steel Taipan rollercoaster.

Katrina Waterman from the Coomera Conservation Group said it was disappointing there was still no commitment to build the koala research centre.

“We would have loved to see that facility go ahead,” she said.

“Ultimately it’s their (Dreamworld’s) prerogative how they spend their money, but we are seeing huge crashes in koala populations in southeast Queensland.

After struggling through the pandemic, Dreamworld’s parent company Ardent Leisure last month reported a 154 per cent increase in revenue for the first quarter of the 2022-23 financial year in their best performance since 2017.

Dreamworld’s road to recovery also includes an ambitious future spending spree on rides and attractions, but a decision to phase out animal encounters with the park’s famous tigers has also left many disappointed.