Cairns Convention Centre upgrade: Unions secure massive wages as more delays announced
Leaked salary documents have revealed the enormous wages paid on the Cairns Convention Centre expansion project as another delay pushes back the completion date by months.
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LEAKED salary documents have revealed the enormous wages paid on the Cairns Convention Centre expansion project as another delay pushes back the completion date by months.
The Cairns Post can reveal a full-time carpenter working a 40-hour week with four hours on Saturdays is earning $187,281 a year on the worksite, including meal, site, travel and tool other allowances.
ONE-HOUR CONVENTION CENTRE JOB ALLEGEDLY TOOK TWO DAYS
For casual workers, that figure is $188,418 – more than $100,000 more than the trade’s average salary of $76,008.
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The sky-high wages are a result of fierce bargaining from the CFMEU to secure state government “best practice” conditions, which include the right to immediately stop work if on-site temperatures hit 35C, or 27C with 75 per cent humidity.
The wage revelations come as the completion date for the $176m project is pushed back again to December 2022.
Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni said work was well under way but construction was hampered by industry-wide delays “beyond anyone’s control” including material and trade shortages – as well as latent conditions underground.
“They include contaminated water and the discovery of asbestos, including in the form of buried and undocumented pipes,” he said.
“Given the shortages and unavoidable issues, the builder – Lendlease – earlier this month asked for an extension until December 2022 and after careful consideration we decided this week to grant that to ensure the project continues safely and on a realistic schedule.
“Like all projects around the world, the Convention Centre expansion has not been immune from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Most significantly, reinforcement steel supply shortages has been a major contributor to construction delays including ground beams and pile caps and other materials.
“Ultimately though we must ensure this project keeps moving forward, safely of course, because this sort of infrastructure project is even more critical to Cairns with the major tourism impacts ongoing.”
Mr de Brenni defended the high wages being paid to tradies through the best practice Buy Queensland procurement rules.
“If you ask them, they’ll tell you they’re as skilled and worthwhile as a tradie on major projects elsewhere in Queensland,” he said.
“When workers have quality employment, that flows on as a benefit to their local economy every time they spend their wages in places like shops and clubs, which is why best practice conditions apply to all major projects across the state.”
A HISTORY OF SETBACKS
Delays have become a hallmark of the major project.
Work was initially set to start after the Commonwealth Games basketball preliminaries at the centre in April 2018.
Instead, it began in July 2020.
Construction setbacks forced a temporary “Snagpit” arena to be built at a former Bunnings Warehouse building for the Cairns Taipans ahead of the 2020-21 NBL season.
Most recently the full project was due for a “mid-2022” completion, a date that has now been pushed back to December 2022.
However, a 24m crane onsite signals work is moving ahead despite being behind schedule.
To date, 623 Cairns workers and 53 local businesses have worked on the project, which Mr de Brenni said was being delivered on budget.
The hundredth tender package was awarded this week.
“There are 10 tenders still to be released for landscaping, roller shutters, commercial kitchen, ceilings and partitions, painting, waterproofing, carpet vinyl, tiling, curtain and blinds and joinery,” Mr de Brenni said.
STILL TO COME
The refurbished stage was completed in May 2021 and the centre is now partially open for business while another 10,500sq m is added to the venue.
The refurbished centre has already hosted a range of events including 14th Australian Banana Industry Conference in May and the Ten Tenors in July 2021.
The forward 2021 and 2022 events calendar bookings are “looking strong”, Mr de Brenni said.
“The Cairns Taipans will return to their spiritual home in the new look Snake Pit in the Cairns Convention Centre for the 2021-22 season,” he continued.
“The 10,500sq m expansion works include tropically planted drop-off and entry forecourt, an expanded main entry lobby, a 410-seat plenary lecture space, three 120-seat meeting rooms and new exhibition space for up to 30 display booths and a 500-seat rooftop banquet space with views over Trinity Inlet.”
Originally published as Cairns Convention Centre upgrade: Unions secure massive wages as more delays announced
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