PM Anthony Albanese weighs in on light rail stage four to Gold Coast Airport

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has weighed in on the debate about whether light rail should be extended to the airport by 2032 after taking a ride on the tram system with Premier Steven Miles. See the video.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spruiked light rail on a Gold Coast visit but declined to say if he backs building Stage Four to Gold Coast Airport by the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.

Speaking with Premier Steven Miles at Parkwood East station on Monday after the pair took a tram ride together, Mr Albanese said there was “nothing better” than public transport and took a swipe at the Liberal Party for their record on the subject.

Premier Steven Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ride on the light rail on the Gold Coast. Picture: Adam Head.

However the Prime Minister said he would await the results of a business case expected to be delivered in the middle of next year before saying whether his government would back Stage Four by the 2032 Games.

“Business cases are being done for this. What my government does is receive the business cases, make proper assessments, but we fund infrastructure,” he said.

“Here’s a really easy figure to remember, the number of dollars spent on public transport by the Howard government over 12 years: zero. Not a single dollar for a single project.

“Now we funded this project. Cross River Rail would have been open by now had Tony Abbott and Campbell Newman not combined to ditch the project and delay it and come up with the silly plans that they did.

“We’re funding Sunshine Coast Rail together with the Queensland government, we’ll examine those proposals.”

Premier Steven Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wait to board a tram at Parkwood on the Gold Coast. Picture: Adam Head.

A preliminary evaluation in April said Stage Four was estimated to cost $4.4 billion to construct, with an upper estimate - considered by some insiders to be unlikely - of $7.6 billion.

Asked whether $7.6 billion would be too much to pay, Mr Albanese again said he would wait and see the results of the business case.

“We’ll wait and see what they are. With respect, that’s why you do a business case,” he said.

The LNP has declared that if elected to government on October 26 they will review the Stage Four project, taking it “back to the drawing board” with “all routes and modes” on the table.

Currumbin MP Laura Gerber last week said electric buses would be among the alternatives considered.

The comments drew a rebuke from Premier Miles, who said light rail was the better option.

“We are proud of the record of infrastructure delivery that we have been able to deliver here in our state thanks to your leadership and working with us,” he said as Mr Albanese watched on.

“And there’s no better example of that than Gold Coast light rail.

“ ... We have a business case underway for stage four and I think what people on the Gold Coast know is that the only party that will deliver and continue to deliver Gold Coast light rail is the Labor Party.

“I saw Laura Gerber just last week suggesting that buses might be better than light rail, but we know in a city like the Gold Coast light rail is the best solution and we want to keep building upon it.”

Premier Steven Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese step off a tram on the Gold Coast. Picture: Adam Head.

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates on Monday said: “Since 2009 the development of light rail has been one project that’s intended to get to the Gold Coast Airport. It’s simply been constructed in stages.

“All of the council consultation indicated people wanted the light rail to get to the airport in the quickest way possible – down the coastal spine. Nothing has changed.

“It would be great to see both sides of politics supporting the light rail.”

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Originally published as PM Anthony Albanese weighs in on light rail stage four to Gold Coast Airport