Gold Coast Cruise Ship Terminal: ASF’S controversial plan to develop The Spit and Wavebreak Island

The unveiling of the Gold Coast’s most controversial development sparked a wave of protests and a heated debate about the future of The Broadwater and The Spit.

The battle over the future of the Broadwater, Wavebreak Island and The Spit has raged for decades.

Everything from golf courses to giant high-rise resorts with rooms for thousands of people have been pitched since the 1980s with none ever proceeding from the drawing board.

The future of development and construction in the area has largely been settled after the years-long Spit Masterplan process opened the door to low-rise projects and revitalisation.

Developer Gordon Corp and Bruce Mathieson this week announced it had appointed builder Multiplex to break ground on its $300-million Mantaray Marina and Residences project next to Mariner’s Cove.

New artist impressions of the Mantaray Marina and Residences development on The Spit.

It will become the first new development realised under the plan.

The step comes 10 years to the week since the then-state government appointed a developer to build a cruise ship terminal on The Spit and develop Wavebreak Island.

It was revealed on December 31, 2013 that ASF Consortium had been tapped to become the preferred bidder for the development, then-known as the Broadwater Marine Project.

A 50-storey tower on the island was the centrepiece of the project, which was tipped to be “the largest piece of integrated tourism infrastructure in Queensland history”.

The original ASFL cruise ship terminal design

Its other key features were named as a terminal and casino.

While Premier Campbell Newman’s government welcomed the submission, it also asked for a detailed plan from another consortium which was understood to have spent more than $1 million on its plans.

In February 2014, the government officially named ASF as its “possible preferred proponent” and unveiled plans for a cruise ship terminal that would have included Doug Jennings Park and Wavebreak Island.

Under these plans, ships would have passed through the Seaway into the Broadwater and docking at the terminal which would have been on the western side of The Spit.

Wavebreak Island would have been redeveloped under the failed plan.

The highly controversial project sparked strong opposition, forcing ASF to redesign the project to remove the terminal from The Spit.

The revamped plans, unveiled in mid-2014 instead relocated it to the island which was to be tripled in size and heavily redeveloped, with room for more than 20,000 people.

Opposition to the development, from groups including the Save Our Spit Alliance, Save Our Broadwater and Friends of Federation Walk grew, with the community divided over its future.

The Newman Government had intended to approve the development in late 2014 but instead decided to wait until after the 2015 elections.

The proposal was highly controversial.

This proved disastrous for ASF and the LNP, which promptly lost power.

The Wavebreak Island development was terminated by the newly-elected Labor government in 2015 after making an election commitment to protect the Broadwater.

However, it allowed ASF to pitch a new development.

In late 2016 the Sydney-based company unveiled its $3bn integrated resort complex – a five-tower mega project that included a casino on Crown land.

Then-Queensland premier Campbell Newman. (AAP Image/Alan Porritt)

This too would be cancelled by the state government, with then-Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying in 2017 that public consultation showed the community did not want a casino or high-rises on the SeaWorld Drive land.

A decade on, hopes of building a cruise ship terminal on The Spit remain unrealised after being put on ice following the Covid pandemic and are yet to be considered or revived by city leaders again.