Minister’s words back to haunt him
TWO years ago this week State Development Minister Anthony Lynham spruiked the post-Games bounty the ASF development would bring to the city, calling it “great news for the tourism industry and economic development at the Gold Coast”.
The Government had struck a deal with ASF to get “back on track”, moving the proposal from the northern end of The Spit to a commercial block between existing developments.
“Construction of a new resort development and casino will generate thousands of new jobs during construction and thousands more long term jobs and training opportunities once facilities are operating,” Dr Lyn- ham said at the time.
Last week Dr Lynham fronted the media to read out a brief, heavily-legalled statement that the project, its traffic solutions and its 13,000 jobs were dead.
This week his office could provide no more answers on why the process took so long or why the Government spent millions on public consultation only to ignore it.
“The government has taken into account extensive consultation and research,” he said in a statement. “In the most recent consultation, 42 per cent of respondents opposed the proposed project on The Spit, and of those, 44 per cent believe that high-rise development would spoil the area.”
Dr Lynham said the Government’s contribution to light rail rail planning, heavy rail duplication, the M1 upgrade and Gold Coast Convention Centre planning would keep people in work. His list of jobcreating Government projects included the operational budget of Gold Coast Health.
“The unemployment rate at 5.2 per cent is below the state average and we’re investing $875 million this financial year alone to support 2400 jobs,” he said.
The Minister said private developments would also help buffer the city against postGames job losses.