Mark Bailey presides over $4.5b in mega project cost blowouts

Transport Minister Mark Bailey now says it’s The Courier-Mail that should be embarrassed – not him – by the $4.5bn in mega project blowouts on his watch.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey (right) inspects Cross River Rail progress with project CEO Graeme Newton.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey has taken to the X social media platform to defend $4.5 billion in cost blowouts to major projects on his watch – but refused to comment to The Courier-Mail.

Posting a picture of The Courier-Mail’s front page, Mr Bailey claimed the numbers contained within the story were “made up”, and he would not be discouraged “for one second”.

The Courier-Mail had contacted Mr Bailey’s office on Tuesday afternoon after he had refused to take further questions from media on the censoring of a $2.4bn blowout in the government’s Queensland Train Manufacturing Program.

Listing four projects and their increased costs, The Courier-Mail asked Mr Bailey: “How does the Minister explain these blowouts, and given the significance is he the right person to lead the portfolio?”

No response was received by the 5pm deadline, or since.

Following Thursday’s X post by the Minister, The Courier-Mail again contacted his office to ask what figures were incorrect, and whether he wished to offer any further explanation.

At the time of publication no response had been received.

The Courier-Mail front page on Thursday

Overnight, The Courier-Mail reported Mr Bailey had presided over a whopping $4.5bn in cost blowouts on major projects in just the past three years – more than the state government planned to spend in total on Olympics infrastructure.

The astonishing figure – half of which is the blowout of the train manufacturing program he has admitted to deliberately hiding from Queenslanders – is also more than the annual budget of the Queensland Police Service, and more than double what the government spends on child safety.

The figure can be revealed after an under-fire Minister defiantly refused to resign on Wednesday – despite growing calls for his scalp after his disastrous revelation a $2.4bn blowout on the government’s Queensland Train Manufacturing Program had been deliberately deleted from a press release by his office.

Mr Bailey’s latest bizarre excuse is that he didn’t see fit to inform Queenslanders the contract with Downer had spiralled $2.4bn during a press conference to announce the deal because it “wasn’t the theme of the historic day”.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey on Wednesday. Picture: John Gass/NCA NewsWire

But he conceded he now knew it had been an “error” and a “stuff-up” – considering that the press release stated three times the project’s cost was $7.1bn when both he and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk have said they both knew it had climbed to $9.6bn.

“This is a town that was on the rack with all their jobs being sent overseas by the Liberal government,” he said.

“We saved that town from being derelict because we bought the jobs back.”

Mr Bailey also said yesterday that on June 30 – the day after the final $9.5bn contract was signed with Downer to build 65 trains in Maryborough – he didn’t see a press release bearing the wrong figure before addressing the media.

He confirmed the transport department had provided a draft press release on June 19, but claimed as the final contract had not been signed at that point, it was removed.

It was later sent to Ms Palaszczuk’s office, where a staffer inserted the incorrect figure – which was still live on the TMR website.

Asked why he did not raise the alarm the figure was incorrect as the Minister in charge, Mr Bailey said he travelled from Brisbane to Rockhampton and on to the Maryborough announcement, saying, “I was in the air most of Friday morning.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces the then $7.1 billion Queensland Train Manufacturing Program with (from left) Member for Maryborough Bruce Saunders, Treasurer Cameron Dick, Transport Minister Mark Bailey and State Development Minister Steven Miles.

He said it was expected the final contract was due to be signed on June 28, but a 24-hour delay meant it was late on June 29.

“So it was not the usual contract, it was not the usual morning,” he said.

“I didn’t see the final media release, I mustered up because it was the nature of the day – now I regret that.”

Mr Bailey said he couldn’t recall when he found out the old, incorrect figure was used to spruik the signing of the contract, but said it was “sometime after the press conference”.

Asked how he felt when he realised the wrong figure had been used, he said “it wasn’t good, put it that way”.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie said the government’s “train shame” was “the end of the line” for Mr Bailey as a minister.

“He cannot be trusted to adhere to the responsibilities of Westminster convention in terms of ministerial accountability,” he said.

“He has had scandal after scandal.

“The train shame scandal has exposed extreme dishonesty and a cover-up that runs right through to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s cabinet and right to the office of the Premier.”

An artist’s impression of the Coomera Connector and the Coomera River crossing

Before Estimates on Wednesday, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said he “absolutely” had confidence in Mr Bailey.

Mr Miles was also quizzed about whether he checked press releases circulated in his name.

“In most cases, I would see and check every statement,” Mr Miles said.

“(But) I’m not going to get into the internal processes of other ministerial offices.”

The $2.4bn rail blowout is only one of a number of major projects which have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars extra under Mr Bailey’s watch, including the government’s flagship Cross River Rail project, which has blown out by close to $1 billion.

The cost of the Coomera Connector is now $600m more than first flagged, Gold Coast Light Rail is $500m up and the Centenary Bridge project has blown out by $54m.

As announced by Ms Palaszczuk in February, the state government was expected to spend $3.7bn on Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure over the next decade – almost a billion dollars less than the combined major project blowouts overseen by the Transport Minister.

Brisbane’s Centenary Bridge is to be upgraded.

At $2.7bn, the cash could pay for the entire rebuild of the Gabba with $1.8bn in change, or the entire $3.6bn annual budget of the Queensland Police.

CFMEU boss Michael Ravbar also called for the Transport Minister to be dumped.

“If Labor harbours any hope of retaining government at next year’s state election, Premier

Annastacia Palaszczuk must clean the dead wood from her Cabinet, starting with failed Transport Minister Mark Bailey,” he said.

“Mark Bailey is a one-man, walking disaster zone.

“In addition to the revelations about the bungled train project and attempts to cover up the debacle, this is the Minister who has presided over a billion dollar blowout in the cost of the troubled Cross River Rail project – which is an underestimation of the true situation.”

“Add into that his serial mismanagement of other infrastructure projects, such as the $600m cost blowout on the Coomera Connector and countless other projects also well over budget and behind schedule, and you have to ask yourself why Premier Palaszczuk continues to run a protection racket for him?”

Originally published as Mark Bailey presides over $4.5b in mega project cost blowouts