Fears vital rail project off track with little action one year after funding boost
There are growing fears a vital Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure project will not be ready in time for the 2032 event, with the Premier on Monday refusing to put any sort of guarantee on the timeline.
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There are fears a vital Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure project will not be ready in time for the event with movement on the transformative project stalled, with the Premier on Monday refusing to guarantee it would be completed by 2032.
The Sunshine Coast rail extension, which would take the line into the heart of the Coast at Maroochydore, lacks a specific route, finished business case or even a proposed time frame.
One year after the project received a $1.6bn boost, there has been little action on the crucial project and Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson has warned time is running out.
Opposition MPs for the Sunshine Coast say they fear the window of opportunity to delivering the project is closing, while community rail advocates have lost faith that construction of the rail will go ahead.
But state Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the government remained committed and that the timeline for the project had not changed since the Coalition announced funding for the project.
On Monday, however, he would not guarantee a time frame on a better rail connection between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast while ensuring necessary transport infrastructure for the 2032 Games, blaming previous Liberal Federal governments for their inaction.
“They put up a last minute announcement for the election but then they didn‘t even put it to a vote in the Federal Parliament. It was a bit of a last minute last gasp attempt to cover their posterior to be quite frank, because they had a whole decade, did nothing,” he told the ABC.
When pressed if the extension would be done before the Games, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk did not directly answer the question.
She instead said the government was looking at the priorities that were needed for the Games, but acknowledged the Sunshine Coast was a growing region.
“We will be working very closely once we see that study, and that’s very good that we’ve put the money aside for that study,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Asked if the rail extension may not be needed for the Games, the Premier said: “Well we’re going to look at it.”
The $1.6bn funding commitment from the then-Morrison government was a 50-50 split, with the state government expected to pick up the rest – but Mr Bailey accused the Coalition of having plucked the figure out of the air.
Despite this, the project did not feature in the Albanese government’s October budget, but
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has said the $1.6bn has been retained.
Mr Bailey said the Palaszczuk government’s $6 million joint study with the Albanese government to establish the scope and costing of the heavy rail line would be completed this year.
He denied Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson’s assertion that there has been little dialogue between council and the state government and that decisions could be made once that study was complete.
“No doubt the Sunshine Coast needs a strong public transport system and they‘re a step back from where the Gold Coast would be,” he said.
“So there’s been a lot of work and there’s a lot of work continuing on that.”
Fairfax MP Ted O’Brien said the rail link was the “single largest infrastructure project” in the May 2022 federal budget but that everything had changed and it had seemingly fallen off the agenda.
“We had everything in place: we had secured the Games, earmarked Maroochydore to host an Olympic sport, completed a business case to build the rail project, received confirmation from the state government that it was ‘absolutely viable’, and locked-in the 50 per cent federal contribution of $1.6bn,” he said.
“In a highly inflationary environment where supply chains and human capital are constrained, delay and indecision means project costs will skyrocket and $3.2bn will be rendered insufficient, jeopardising the entire project.”
Fisher MP Andrew Wallace said time was ticking on getting the rail extension delivered.
“The window of opportunity is fast closing on this generational project, the largest infrastructure project ever announced for the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
“This is a legacy project and it’s time state and federal Labor gets on with the job.”
But Mr Bailey said the business case would be delivered by the end of the year, while the state and federal governments were working cooperatively on the project.
“This work is running on schedule and will be completed later this year which we will be very pleased to share with the public when it is ready,” he said.
“No progress was achieved at all on a direct rail line to the Sunshine Coast during the LNP’s decade of dithering when in power in Canberra, due to ineffective and lazy Sunshine Coast MP’s Ted O’Brien and Andrew Wallace.”
A spokeswoman for Ms King said the business case for the Sunshine Coast rail extension from Beerwah to Maroochydore was under way.
“We will have more to say once that is finalised,” she said.
Mr Jamieson said there was little dialogue taking place between the state government and himself on the rail, with serious questions needing to be answered including around when work would start.
“We’ve only got nine years left and it will take all of that time to get it done. You’d want it all in place at least a year before to ensure it’s fully tested and does what it’s supposed to,” he said.
“It’s a major project, it needs to be one of the corner pieces of us staging the Games. We’re not seeing the motivation from the government to ensure this will be delivered on time.”
Rail Back On Track spokesman Robert Dow said there were already delays in duplicating the rail line between Beerburrum and Beerwah, which made him doubtful about the extension to Maroochydore.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Mr Dow said.
“It’s not even mentioned in any of the Olympics hype any more.”
Originally published as Fears vital rail project off track with little action one year after funding boost
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