Ghost Projects: Full list of promised Gold Coast infrastructure projects which won’t be built
Almost $5b worth of projects was promised for the Gold Coast during the election – many of them are now being delayed, dumped or spread across decades. Now we can tell you exactly what the city missed out on. SEE THE FULL LIST
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THE Gold Coast has almost $5 billion worth of infrastructure and tourism projects on the books — but most are being delayed, dumped or built across decades of funding.
A Bulletin special investigation reveals which of the $4.85b worth of projects have been given a green, red or amber light.
The council’s inspired offshore cruise ship is a red light – temporarily parked according to Mayor Tom Tate – and the cableway in the hinterland is on amber while the dive site off The Spit will be opened next year after getting the green light.
The Palaszczuk Government is in the spotlight for not building three new train stations promised in the lead-up to the 2017 poll, not providing details on new satellite hospitals in the city’s north and south in the current budget and drip funding the Coomera Connector build.
Southport MP Rob Molhoek, who has had a deep dive into the State budget papers, said Queensland’s fastest growing region was being short changed.
The Coast represents at least 14.5 per cent of the state’s total population. The State’s total capital expenditure forecast for this year is $13.5 billion.
“Sadly, if we go through and add up line by line the commitments that have been made to the Gold Coast, it is less than three per cent of the state’s total expenditure,” Mr Molhoek said.
“Yet again the Gold Coast will miss out. It will not be getting its fair share of capital expenditure over the next 12 months, certainly not from this government.”
“There is no significant new capital investment or improvements for any of the schools and virtually nothing in terms of arts, culture, sports and recreation.
“Out of an education capital budget of $1.78 billion, there is $68 million committed to the Gold Coast. That is about four per cent of the total budget for a city that has 15 per cent of the state’s population.
After examining the State’s $1.6 billion health budget, Mr Molhoek estimates the Coast gets about $19 million for a new CT scanner for the Robina Hospital and $700,000 to makeover the Gold Coast Ambulance Operations Centre in Southport.
“That is less than one per cent of the total capital budget for the state in a city that represents 15 per cent,” he said.
FULL DIGITAL ACCESS: JUST $5 A MONTH FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS
“No new drug and alcohol treatment facilities, no expansion of facilities at Robina or Gold Coast University hospitals, just some vague promise about some new facility up in Coomera and we are still not quite sure what that is.”
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said $1.7 billion in health funding had been earmarked for the Gold Coast region.
“(That’s) because we understand that as the Gold Coast’s population grows, our health system needs to stay strong and continue to keep pace with growing demand,” she said.
“The Palaszczuk government’s plan includes a new hospital and health precinct for the northern Gold Coast region, with an identified preferred site at Coomera.
“The preferred site of the new Coomera hospital and health precinct is on land already owned by Queensland Health at George Alexander Way.”
Political analysts say the shift in funding compared to what was promised during the election is “to be expected”.
Griffith University’s Professor Stephen Stockwell said: “What was promised and talked about in an election (becomes a problem of) how you deliver that after the election, and things which (were talked about during) will become problematic after.
“What you’re seeing here is that the government hasn’t actually said, ‘No, we’re not going to do what we’ve promised’.
“It’s part of managing expectations. What you’ve got here is a list of expectations being managed.
FULL DIGITAL ACCESS: JUST $5 A MONTH FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS
“That’s partly how politics works. We could be uncharitable and say the government didn’t do as well on the Gold Coast as they’d hoped for, so priorities may shift.
“But certainly you couldn’t say at this point the government is hoping to draw poll-less voters from promises they didn’t make.”
Coomera MP Michael Crandon said the budget contained no funding for Exit 38 at Yatala North despite a business case being completed in 2018.
“Zero – not a dollar, not a cracker, not a penny in this budget for Exit 38. The economic benefits of Exit 38 upgrades are massive,” he said.
“It is a major arterial road going into the Yatala enterprise area. An enormous number of trucks traverse that road, but there is not one dollar of the $87 million in this budget.”
Mr Crandon said the LNP had promised an additional $25 million for Exit 45 South but Labor was only putting in $10 million.
“They have somehow convinced the federal government to give them another $10 million to build a slip lane. When will it be built? Well, the planning is planned for 2020-21 but there is no indication beyond that of when we might expect to see completion of exit 45,” he said.
Theodore MP Mark Boothman said Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey should “swallow his pride” and work with the federal government to find a funding package to fix the Oxenford interchange.
“The federal government is willing to listen and potentially fix the problem. The interchange has become more confusing than ever and accidents have been caused by cars queuing on the motorway,” he said.
“The work they did at the interchange has failed and it is continuing to fail. It is placing people’s lives at risk.”
Mr Bailey said: “In the lead up to Christmas, Michael Crandon continues the same whinging and whining that produced a big swing against him and almost lost his safe LNP seat.
“The best Christmas gift Michael Crandon and the LNP can give to the Gold Coast is to apologise for blocking the second M1 when in power and then promising to build a puny version of it, only 6km.
“Our $1.53 billion commitment to stage one of the second M1 is fully funded as shown in the State Budget and new four-year Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program.
“It’s part of a $26.9 billion program of investment over four years. Jobs are being created and shovels are in the ground right now with our much larger $1 billion upgrade between Varsity Lakes and Tugun (and) the Exit 41 upgrade.
“These projects will be followed by a pipeline of future M1 upgrades (like) the Exit 49 upgrade, which is expected to start in 2022, two years earlier than the lazy Michael Crandon suggests.”
GOLD COAST PROJECTS: MORE THAN $4 BILLION IN POTENTIAL KEY INFRASTRUCTURE AND TOURISM PROJECTS
* Hinterland cableway. Amber light.
Council has reignited this debate. The original plan almost two decades ago was costed at $100 million. A consultant has finished a report for the City on a future cableway. Councillors will most likely debate it in the new year. The report will consider the Springbrook route and likely path, and Mayor Tom Tate will write to the State Government to seek support for further technical studies.
* Offshore cruise ship terminal at The Spit. Red light.
This has been Cr Tate’s pet project for more than a decade. Council’s special budget meeting in September proposed, due to COVID-19, no funding be provided to “the Port of Gold Coast” in the draft 2020-21 budget. About $3.5 million, earmarked for environmental impact assessments, remains unspent. About $1 million of that is to be switched to cover Kirra Beach tourist park acquisitions. The strong view from within council is the $650 million jetty, if it is to occur — and that’s a long shot — won’t surface for at least another decade.
* The offshore dive site. Green light.
The latest council budget shows funding of $992,108 is allocated in the Strategic Priorities Reserve to the dive site. A contract has now been let for the site, a report said. About $494,876 will remain in reserve should additional funding be required. The $5 million first stage of the offshore dive attraction off The Spit is expected to open in mid-2021.
* Convention centre expansion and new casino. Red light.
The convention centre upgrade was supposed to be part of the deal for the state government’s planned global tourism hub (GTH), which would have included a hotel and second casino. The successful GTH tender would have funded the centre expansion. Conversely, it would have been upgraded if The Star was given a monopoly deal. Opposition Coast MP Ray Stevens asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Parliament about there being “no line in the budget for a much-vaunted global tourism hub”. He reminded the Premier her government had rejected $100 million from the Star for a centre upgrade. The Premier replied “the appetite just was not there” for a GTH. “My understanding still is, in relation to the convention centre, that when we do see an uptake in growth back into the Gold Coast market, my government is not averse to looking at any further expansion which could happen there,” she said.
* Coomera Connector. Green light but proceed with caution.
Coomera MP Michael Crandon criticised the government in his budget-in-reply speech for being so slow on the six-lane second M1, in 2021 spending only a further $12.8 million on a $1.53 billion project. The money will fund the Nerang and Coomera River crossings. “Some $755 million was committed by both the federal government and the state government for stage 1,” he said. “Some $735 million of the $1.53 billion goes beyond the forward estimates. We are looking at taking 60,000 vehicles off the M1 sometime after 2024 — and probably after 2028 at the rate that those opposite are taking us forward.”
* Pacific Motorway Exit upgrades. Green light but proceed with caution.
About $10.2 million in 2020-21 out of a $82.1 million spend to upgrade the Exit 41 interchange at Yatala south. About $5 million out of a $110 million upgrade for Exit 49 at Pimpama. Just more than $6 million out of $25 million for the upgrade of Exit 57 at Oxenford. Mr Crandon said the funding for Exit 49 had been available since 2019, and “if we are lucky, it will be delivered in 2024”. “Exit 54 took 18 months to build from start to finish, and we are taking five years from when the funding was available to deliver,” he said.
* Southern Gold Coast Satellite Hospital. Amber.
Currumbin MP Laura Gerber has called on the government to announce where the planned Gold Coast Satellite Hospital would be located in Tugun.
This is part of a $265 million commitment to build seven such hospitals. She said there were no details of when it would be opened to receive patients.
Asked for more details, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said: “The government has announced that Tugun is the preferred location of the Southern Gold Coast Satellite Hospital, which is subject to community consultation.”
* New Coomera hospital and health precinct. Green light but proceed slowly.
A $160 million commitment from the state poll by Labor. Planned for a 13.52ha site on George Alexander Way. No mention in the budget, but $3 million set aside to develop a plan.
* Pacific Motorway M1 Varsity Lakes to Tugun. Green light.
About $145 million in 2020-21 out of $1 billion total spend to widen to six lanes, delivered with federal government help.
* The Spit makeover. Green light.
Labor announced in the lead-up to the October state poll it would fund $22 million capital works program to deliver new infrastructure to the Coast’s central park. Will include a pontoon and jetty at the Marine Stadium.
* Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 3A. Green light.
Just more than $50 million in 2020-21 out of $709 million to be spent on extending the tram south from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads. Includes money from the Commonwealth and council.
* Helensvale North, Pimpama and Worongary train stations. Amber light.
In the lead-up to the 2017 election, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Labor had committed to building three new stations — at Worongary-Merrimac, Helensvale North and Pimpama — at a cost of $120 million.
In 2019, Labor released the initial designs for two of the three new railway stations. The government said the stations would take three years to build, opening in 2024. No date yet on
Helensvale North.
* New overpass across the M1. Red light.
Northern-based city councillors Donna Gates and William Owen-Jones have been lobbying the government and believe a new overpass, at Beattie Road, is needed for the Coomera Connector to work. “The Coomera Connector actually needs to connect the east and west. The best location is from Beattie Rd across to Heathwood Drive,” Cr Owen-Jones said. The road and overpass upgrades would cost at least $200 million.
* The upgrade of connection roads for the Coomera Connector. Amber light.
Councillors want the dual laning of Helensvale Road, one of the connector roads, to be completed by the state government. Main Roads is still to determine if that will be “part of the scope of the project”. The first stage was to be between Oakey Creek Road to Nerang Broadbeach Road but an investigation has been launched on a potential better solution of Shipper Drive and connecting to Foxwell Road. All these issues need to be resolved before the first stage is completed.
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