Court blocks release of secret Toondah deals

A court has blocked the release of details of deals between a southeast council and the developer of one of the state’s largest passenger ferry terminals.

Clockwise from top: Wetlands at Toondah Harbour; the development area; and an artist’s impression.

Financial deals between a southeast council and the developer of one of the state’s largest passenger ferry terminals will remain confidential forever after a court blocked the release of secret documents.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled out public access to multimillion-dollar deals between Redland City Council, the state government and Walker Group, the developer of Cleveland’s controversial Toondah Harbour project.

QCAT found the Toondah development agreements were exempt from public release under Queensland’s Right to Information laws.

The ruling has led to calls for the laws to be overhauled.

Redland residents protest about the Walker Group’s planned 3600-unit development at Toondah Harbour outside council chambers.

Community advocacy group Redlands2030, which triggered the case after it applied to the council for the Toondah documents in 2017, said the decision was at the public expense.

The group’s secretary, Chris Walker, said people should have the right to know what the community was getting in return for the development and the loss of significant wetlands.

Redlands2030 secretary Chris Walker at Toondah Harbour.

“RAMSAR wetlands are being privatised without adequate public scrutiny and nobody knows how much will actually be spent by Walker Group on public works.”

Environmental Defenders Office also called for the laws to be revised.

EDO managing lawyer Andrew Kwan said the decision meant “the door was essentially shut to any transparency” for development agreements containing confidentiality clauses.

He said the ruling would make it difficult for the public to fully understand any purported benefits of such projects or be able to effectively weigh up environmental and other costs.

Cleveland’s Toondah Harbour; protesters at a rally to save Cleveland wetlands; and Environmental Defenders Office lawyer Andrew Kwan.

“Where we have our representative state and local governments and developers entering into multimillion-dollar agreements, the public should be able to find out the contents of those agreements,” Mr Kwan said.

“This is particularly the case when the proposed development would involve impacts to the internationally significant RAMSAR wetlands of Moreton Bay, against where the council has claimed some $116 million of community infrastructure benefits.

“Queensland law should be revised to remove the outright confidentiality exemption and instead have government and agencies conduct a public interest balancing test for the release of such information, as is the case in New South Wales.”

Redland City Council first refused to hand over the documents to Redlands2030 when the group applied for the information in 2017.

Walker Group’s vision Toondah Harbour.

The community group then took the matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner, which took a year to find in favour of Redlands2030, ruling the documents were not exempt under the Right to Information Act.

But Walker Group and the state government questioned that decision and launched the appeal with QCAT, which ruled in their favour last month.

Redland City Council said it refused the original Right to Information application because it was obliged to do so under the law.

“To do otherwise would put the council in breach of contract regarding the preservation of commercial-in-confidence information,” the council said.

The Environmental Defenders Office will continue to advise Redlands2030 about the QCAT decision.