Federal government rejects state government claims it ‘stalled’ on Coomera Connector funds
The Federal Government says it has more than $70m in funding available for the Coomera Connector but has layed blame for potential delays with State Labor for failing to lodge a claim.
Gold Coast
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The Federal Government says it has more than $70m in funding available for the Coomera Connector but has layed blame for potential delays with State Labor for failing to lodge a claim.
Federal Communications and Urban Cities Minister Paul Fletcher has fired back at accusations by Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey in a heated funding row being played out in the final week of the federal poll.
Labor first accused the Commonwealth of being at least six months behind in its payments on the second M1, owing up to $100m and putting tradie jobs at risk.
Mr Bailey maintained the payments relate to a “delivery deed”, which is a contract for actual work – separate to a “development deed” – for the $2bn road project between Nerang and Coomera.
But Mr Fletcher on Tuesday said Mr Bailey was “making false and inaccurate claims” on one of the State’s most important infrastructure projects.
“Mr Bailey claims that the Federal Government is six months behind in its payments on the Coomera Connector, owing up to $100 million. This is simply not true,” Mr Fletcher said.
“Commonwealth funding for the Coomera Connector is absolutely committed and budgeted for, but as the State Government is well aware, the Commonwealth only makes payments for projects once critical milestones are met by the State.”
The final design for the most complex stage of the project is not expected to be completed until later this year with two companies currently working on “preliminary” studies.
A koala management plan has been drafted and would be available for public viewing once approved by federal environment officers as part of a public environment report.
The Commonwealth had made $121m available through a development deed, Mr Fletcher said.
The first stage of funding is executed through a development deed to enable pre-construction activities, he added.
“Oddly, the Queensland Government has not even yet bothered to claim the majority of this funding,” Mr Fletcher said.
“So far, $47 million has been paid to the Queensland Government, and more than $70 million remains available to be paid as soon as the Queensland Government lodges a claim.
“The next major milestone payment is for the construction contract award, due in August. According to advice provided by Mr Bailey’s own department to my department, the funding for this does not need to be made available until the end of June.
“The remaining Commonwealth funding for the Coomera Connector will continue to be paid as and when Queensland meets delivery milestones.”
Mr Fletcher accused Mr Bailey of a “transparent political stunt” before Saturday’s federal poll saying he has never previously raised any issues about the funding timelines
Feds shirk paying the bill on Coomera Connector
The federal government is at least six months behind in its payments on the Coomera Connector, owing up to $100m and putting tradie jobs at risk, it can be revealed.
The Bulletin is told the payments relate to a “delivery deed”, which is a contract for actual work – separate to a “development deed” – for the $2bn road project between Nerang and Coomera.
Despite claims by the Commonwealth and State LNP MPs this week, the state government says the funding row is not about Labor being slow to progress the development part of the second M1.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the state government had been required to underwrite approximately $100m on behalf of the Commonwealth to extend the existing early works contract.
“Without this underwriting they would be unable to hire tradies and get supplies and materials for the work,” Mr Bailey said.
“Hence the project would be delayed. Work would have almost stopped completely.”
The Bulletin asked the Minister if this situation had occurred before and if it was due to lost paperwork by the Commonwealth.
“Not in my time as transport minister,” he replied. “Regardless of if it was an oversight, or intentional, the facts are it has threatened to delay the Coomera Connector project, which as everyone knows, is critical for the Gold Coast.”
Asked whether the state again asked the Commonwealth for payment, Mr Bailey added: “The Commonwealth are well aware of their obligations when it comes to signing off this approval.”
Mr Bailey took a political shot at federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Bonney MP Sam O’Connor.
Mr Fletcher this week said “any suggestion the Australian government is holding up this important project is simply not true, and a deliberate distraction from a Labor government that is notorious for suffering cost blowouts and mismanaging the delivery of infrastructure projects”.
“In November 2021, without any notice, the state government requested an additional $316.1m to cover a cost blowout on the Coomera Connector, on top of the Commonwealth’s existing and agreed $750m commitment to the project. The Commonwealth was quick to respond and provided the significant additional funding within a matter of weeks.”
In state parliament this week, Mr O’Connor strongly rejected Mr Bailey’s accusations about the Morrison government refusing to release money for about six months.
Mr O’Connor says the Minister and Queensland government are guilty of “blatant lies and misinformation” about the project.
But Mr Bailey said on Friday: “Paul Fletcher and Sam O’Connor deliberately don’t mention the fact that there are two separate financial approvals – a development deed and a delivery deed. The funding approval from the Morrison government we sought over five months before the caretaker period, in November 2021, was the delivery deed, which they ignored.”
Funding fight: Feds reject ‘stalling’ on Coomera Connector
The federal government has rejected accusations it’s refusing to hand over money promised for the $2bn Coomera Connector project, less than two weeks out from the May 21 election.
Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said the claims, made by Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey on Tuesday, were “simply not true”.
Mr Bailey told Parliament on Tuesday, that the federal government was refusing to hand over money promised for the second M1.
“Any suggestion the Australian Government is holding up this important project is (a) deliberate distraction from a Labor Government that is notorious for suffering cost blowouts and mismanaging the delivery of infrastructure projects,” Mr Fletcher said.
“In November 2021 without any notice, the State Government requested an additional $316.1 million to cover a cost blowout on the Coomera Connector, on top of the Commonwealth’s existing and agreed $750 million commitment to the project.
“The Commonwealth was quick to respond and provided the significant additional funding within a matter of weeks.
“Commonwealth funding for the Coomera Connector is absolutely committed and budgeted for, but as the State Government is well aware, the Commonwealth only makes payments for projects once critical milestones are met by the State.
“Oddly enough, the Queensland Government is yet to claim $70 million milestone payment for the project which we have made available.
“Ironically, it is the Labor State Government that is withholding infrastructure funding, refusing to pass on $50 million in Commonwealth funding to Brisbane City Council for the Brisbane Metro project.
“The real risk to the delivery of infrastructure in Queensland is the Labor State Government, which would be made worse with a Federal Labor Government.”
The 16km first stage of the project will cost $2.1bn, with the state and federal governments going 50-50 in funding its construction.
Earlier, Mr Bailey accused the federal government of failing to release funding for the Coomera Connector more than six months after it was first requested by the State.
The Transport and Main Roads department wrote to federal Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s department in November last year requesting it release the next round of funding to get construction started, Mr Bailey said.
“With construction getting underway in January, this round of funding was critical to ensure we could pay contractors and get this much-needed project underway for the Gold Coast, so by not releasing the funding they threatened to delay the entire project,” he said.
“The Palaszczuk government has been forced to step in to keep the project moving, bringing forward hundreds of millions of dollars to cover the Morrison government’s shortfall.
“The Morrison LNP government is taking the Gold Coast for granted because, despite having all federal Gold Coast MP’s in their ranks including two ministers, they’ve failed to release the funding on the city’s most critical project.”
Only a month ago senior federal Coast MP Stuart Robert defended the government’s position on funding Coast transport infrastructure.
“We’ve funded light rail phase 3 … we’ve funded over a billion dollars to the Coomera Connector and, of course, we’re funding business case studies on the efficacy of rail,” Mr Robert said.
However, the Bulletin has warned about delays, previously due to “green” issues with koalas.
In February, it was revealed major work on building the first stage of the project between Nerang and Coomera could be delayed until at least mid-year as the state government worked through environmental and legal challenges.
Mr Bailey said a koala management plan for the second M1 had been drafted and would be available for public viewing once approved by federal environment officers as part of a public environment report.
“The report is expected to be released for public comment in mid-2022,” he said.
An Infrastructure Australia report showed the Coomera Connector would be four lanes and not the six lanes as originally intended, which sparked a protest from LNP state backbenchers who attacked Labor’s commitment on the project.
The stoush over the Coomera Connector comes on the same day as federal McPherson MP Karen Andrews admitting she has disendorsed stage four of the light rail through Palm Beach.
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