Our health response opens highway to the future: Annastacia Palaszczuk

With COVID under control in Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the state is getting on with life and business.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast on Sunday. Picture: News Corp

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says her government’s management of the COVID crisis is the reason why they can build a second highway from Brisbane to the Gold Coast.

Speaking on the Gold Coast on Sunday, Ms Palaszczuk announced there had been two new COVID cases recorded in the state, with one in hotel quarantine after returning from overseas and another known contact from the corrective services cluster.

The number of active cases in Queensland actually fell to 19 because five had been discharged, the Premier said.

She said it was thanks to their COVID response that $755m could be allocated for a new ­motorway to ease pressure on the existing M1.

The funds, which the federal government was expected to match, would pay for the construction of a 16km stretch of road between Nerang and Coomera from mid-2021.

“These are very concerning times for us but what we are seeing in Queensland is that we can now focus on our economic response because we have focused on the health response,” Ms Palas­zczuk said.

“We are able to talk about putting in place funding of $755m and 700 jobs, to work on the brand new second M1 because we’ve been able to get the response right to date.”

She contrasted life in Queensland to that in other states and countries where there was “no construction and no mining”.

“You can’t go to get a coffee, you can’t go to a cafe,” she said, referring to a large second wave of COVID hitting parts of Europe.

“Queenslanders really enjoy their lifestyle, we want to protect that lifestyle, to protect their jobs, we want to get people back to work — that’s my priority.”

Addressing criticism of “special treatment” for celebrities such as Tom Hanks who were given exemptions from the same hotel quarantine as other overseas arrivals, the Premier said she “would not cop the negativity”.

Hanks recently returned to the Gold Coast with wife Rita Wilson to star in Baz Luhrmann’s film about Elvis Presley.

“Very few countries are producing movies or Netflix or anything like that at the moment, but Queensland is able to do that and support the (film) industry and get people back into work,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“People are knocking on our door, they want to come to Queensland and film and that means getting people on the Gold Coast into employment.

“If movies are not being made here on the Gold Coast, people are not working in set construction, set design, food delivery, make-up — everything to do with that is Gold Coast jobs.”

The announcement of funding for the new motorway was welcomed by Destination Gold Coast and by Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates, who said the infrastructure was vital to easing congestion in the city.

“We have been advocating for this project for quite some time,” she said.

“Now we need to ensure the best amenity and connectivity outcomes for affected residents.”

Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan said better access to the region and more jobs were desperately needed: “Any announcement that benefits the Gold Coast has to be good ­because we have taken a hell of a beating (in the COVID crisis).”

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the pledge by Ms Palaszczuk was “a con” and accused her government of “trash talking” the LNP’s plan for a second M1.

She said only the LNP would build a new four-lane motorway, to which it had pledged $550m.

The state election will be held on October 31.