Battle over secret Toondah Harbour documents
A confidential letter from Josh Frydenberg has renewed calls for secret documents about Toondah Harbour to be made public
Redlands Coast
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Redland City Council and community group Redlands2030 are locked in a battle over secret documents dealing with the proposed development of Cleveland’s Toondah Harbour ferry terminal.
The controversial $1.4 billion development is for an overhauled ferry terminal and 3600 high-rise units on the waterfront in Cleveland’s east.
The area is currently under Ramsar environmental protection as it is home to rare shorebirds and the critically endangered eastern curlew.
But a letter published yesterday revealed Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, a former Environment Minister, had sought to have the area removed from Ramsar protection.
Redlands2030 had asked Redland City Council for documents pertaining to the Toondah Harbour development in 2017.
The group wanted two documents — an infrastructure agreement, which is now publicly available and a development agreement, which is still confidential.
The council refused and Redlands2030 took the matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner, which ruled in favour of releasing the documents.
However, before the documents were handed over, Walker Group and the state government counteracted and appealed the decision, leaving the matter before the Queensland Civil Administrative Tribunal.
Redlands2030 spokesman Chris Walker said ratepayers and residents deserved to know the full facts of the Toondah Harbour deals and all the benefits for the community.
“Walker Group lobbied the governments and even donated $200,000 to the Liberal Party before the 2016 election,” Mr Walker said.
“When the council spruiked the benefits of the project, we were told there was $116 million worth of community improvements such as parks coming to Redlands.
“But only about half of that figure is explained in the infrastructure agreement and most of the money is being spent on services for a residential development, not for public benefit.
“There is about $60 million unaccounted for publicly in the infrastructure agreement so the balance is presumably spelled out in the secret development agreement.
“The document might also reveal the risk allocation issues which are of interest to ratepayers who want to know if the council got done over by the developer.”
A hearing into the release of the development agreement is scheduled for QCAT in February.
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