Mackay Whitsunday island resorts left to rot
Derelict buildings, empty pools and overgrown vegetation have now replaced what were some of Mackay Whitsunday’s top holiday destinations. Read which resorts are languishing and why local authorities are furious.
Regional News
Don't miss out on the headlines from Regional News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Derelict buildings, empty pools and overgrown vegetation have now replaced what were some of Mackay Whitsunday’s top holiday destinations as resorts under the control of foreign and interstate owners have been left to languish.
Once considered jewels in the region’s crown, these tropical retreats have become a heartbreaking eyesore as civic leaders slam the proprietors over “land banking” treasured community assets.
Resorts on Brampton, Lindeman and South Molle Island and Laguna Quays, north of Mackay, have sat unused for years, rotting as they are ravaged by the yearly and seasonal elements.
There are suggestions owners and developers are land banking – sitting on the lucrative properties until they can sell it for a profit. But none responded to our questions.
Brampton Island
Mayor Greg Williamson has blasted the lessees of Brampton Island who have left the island resort to rot despite having approval to build a seven-star resort in its place.
United Petroleum, owned by United Petroleum co-founders Avi Silver and Eddie Hirsch, bought the island for $5.9m in 2010 and promptly closed the resort with a plan to redevelop it by late 2011.
Mackay Regional Council gave the development application, lodged by Brampton Enterprises Pty Ltd which is an arm of United Petroleum, the green tick in July 2015.
The redevelopment included the existing buildings being replaced with six new accommodation buildings, rock pools by the beach, yoga platform, golf course, tennis courts and beach bar.
In 2017 Brampton Enterprises applied to extend its development application when it neared the expiration date – it now expires in July 2023.
Mr Williamson said the last correspondence the council had with the company was in 2019.
“It is exceptionally disappointing that they’ve done nothing with the island,” Mr Williamson said.
“It’s 10 years now since they closed their doors and you can imagine the state of disrepair the whole place would be in by now.
“One would suspect by this stage they’re just land banking the island.”
Mr Williamson said council had limited grounds to knock back the previous extension, but hoped to join forces with the state government to put pressure on United Petroleum “to either do something with the island or relinquish their lease”.
“I’ll be strongly suggesting … to the state (government) that they do something about firing a shot across the bows … to say you are not exercising the tourism lease that you have … you haven’t done it for the past 10 years, why would you have the lease,” he said.
Lindeman Island
It was a popular tourism hotspot and home to a world-renowned resort chain, but for the past 10 years Lindeman Island has sat dilapidated after it was battered in Cyclone Yasi in 2011.
Club Med shuttered its three-star Whitsunday outpost in early 2012 with severe cyclone damage and post-GFC tourism downturn among the reasons why.
Months later, Chinese advertising and media company White Horse Group snapped up Lindeman for between $10-$12m with plans to redevelop the island, which has instead sat dormant for a decade.
Previous reports stated after buying the lease White Horse Group worked with the state government in a bid to return the island to its former glory.
Between 2015 and 2018 there was some movement. In 2017, a draft environmental impact statement for the $583m redevelopment and expansion of the islands resort was released and given the green light in 2018.
The plan included transforming the facilities into a five-star beach resort, six-star spa resort, five-star eco resort and four-star tourist villa precinct.
It was expected to create 300 jobs during construction and provide 300 jobs once operational.
The development included 169 villas, 136 suites and 20 apartments across the resorts and tourist villa precincts, as well as restaurants, a golf course, airstrip and improved marine access.
At a regional project forum in Mackay in 2018, White Horse Australia director David Richards said the project was full steam ahead and the property directors had partnered with a luxury hotel brand, but remained tight lipped about who.
The entire project was anticipated to be complete with resorts operating in late 2022 and tipped to generate $100m annually to the Mackay region’s economy and create up to another 460 full-time equivalent direct and indirect ongoing jobs in the region.
South Molle Island
Lauded as one of the most popular Queensland island resorts in the 1980s and 1990s, offering carefree days and carnival nights, South Molle Island has sat unused since Cyclone Debbie ripped through it in early 2017.
Now a rotting resort, it remains a black mark on the pristine location that includes sandy white beaches and clear blue waters.
The resort was once owned by now-defunct airline Ansett in the 1980s. In the early 2000s Queensland businessman Craig Ross bought South Molle resort out of receivership and ran it as a backpacker hostel.
China Capital Investment Group, which owns the newly refurbished Daydream Island resort, took ownership of the lease in August 2016 for $24m.
In early 2017, category four Cyclone Debbie tore through the north-facing island causing massive vegetation damage and wreaking havoc on the resort. Roofs were ripped off cabins, and the jetty was left twisted and partially collapsed.
CCIG initially focused on Daydream Island resort, also extensively damaged during Cyclone Debbie, launching a two-year $140m revamp and reopening in 2019.
In 2018, the state government ran an open, contestable $25m grant fund for Great Barrier Reef Island Resort Rejuvenation, with South Molle awarded funding under this boost.
The program partners with industry to clean and green resorts to attract more visitors and generate jobs for the region.
These clean-up works and reconstruction of a new public jetty are now complete, with both projects helping to restore access for visitors and locals to the island’s national park and 17km of walking trails.
Cyclone Ada also ripped through the Whitsundays in 1970. The damage bill in 1970 was estimated at $12 million, and Hayman, Daydream, Long, South Molle and Hook Islands, and the area from Airlie Beach to Cannonvale, Proserpine, Calen and Shute Harbour received the worst of the cyclone’s fury.
Long Island
Since the 1930s the original resort that would go through many name changes was called Happy Bay.
In 1943, it was rebuilt by Contiki and sold in 1994 to Sydney-based investor David Kingston who renamed it Long Island – Club Croc.
It was popular with international and domestic tourists. Mr Kingston owned the space for 25 years.
During his tenure, the resort went through another rebranding to become Breakfree resort.
It closed in 2015 ahead of a planned renovation, but never reopened. In 2016, it was put up for sale.
There was an offer by a Middle Eastern buyer interested in launching a Sixth Sense resort on the island which fell through before the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out the state’s $28bn tourism industry.
But the Long Island resort lease sold in 2021 to Sydney-based Oscars Hotel Group who reportedly paid close to $20m.
The site is at the top of Long Island, which is split between three separate leaseholders. Two other resorts operated on the island, Elysian Retreat and Palm Bay Resort.
Elysian has proved going green is “the way of the future” after it was revealed it offset 150 per cent of carbon emissions over 2019.
Laguna Quays
It was the glitzy resort set against a lush green national park, with the Great Barrier Reef at its feet and an 18-hole golf course designed by David Graham and opened by Greg Norman.
There was much excitement when Laguna Quays opened in 1992 – three years later it went bankrupt.
It should have been a holiday haven or a dream new lifestyle.
But now, after languishing for decades, Laguna Whitsundays, as it came to be known, is probably better described as a nightmare for people who still own land at the idyllic could-have-been paradise.
>> Paradise lost: Laguna dream resort left to languish for decades
In about 2013, major Chinese construction and investment company Fullshare Group, which had a vision to develop the 20sq km of Laguna Whitsundays into a “worldwide tourist resort landmark” for the 21st century, bought it.
Instead it has been left to rot.
Whitsunday MP Amanda Camm has been outspoken about her disappointment in these Mackay and Whitsunday treasures left to languish.
“It’s very frustrating. I think there needs to be a use it or lose it approach when it comes to unique assets like our islands (and resorts),” Ms Camm said.
“You can’t just sit and land bank these assets because these assets in fact are owned by the Queensland taxpayers.
“Now that … there’s limitations on people being able to holiday overseas, it’s the perfect time for the Whitsunday islands and islands across Queensland to be rejuvenated or further enhanced to attract an Australian market.”
Ms Camm has called for a public inquiry into island ownership and management across the state and said she was “yet to receive a response”.
“These are incredible natural assets that our state has with untapped opportunity but we need the right structures in place to facilitate investment and sustainable development,” she said.
A Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport spokesman said the state government was working closely with the lease holders regarding the future use of the resort sites.
“This ongoing engagement has not been impacted by Covid-19,” he said.
“There is strong ongoing demand for reef experiences throughout the Whitsundays and Mackay regions and there has been significant reinvestment in island resort infrastructure, including with support from the Queensland government’s Great Barrier Reef Island Resort Rejuvenation Fund.
“Recent investor interest in the islands specific to this inquiry is encouraging.
“Leases for three of Queensland’s iconic Great Barrier Reef Island resorts were recently sold to domestic investors.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Mackay Whitsunday island resorts left to rot
Join the conversation
‘I’ve moved 10 times in a year because I’ve got too many kids’
A mother-of-nine has highlighted a major crisis across Queensland, revealing she has had to move house about 10 times in a year.
Read more
‘Grave fears’: Hope fades as search for missing man runs into second week
Police and SES crews spent the weekend searching water courses and bushland near Ficks Crossing in an effort locate a young man who disappeared 10 days ago.
Read more