ROAD TO A DEAL

A JOKE and a hoax, or a concrete commitment that should be seized with both hands? Since the Federal Budget, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has continued to trash Canberra’s $1 billion offer to fix the M1, even though federal Labor backs the proposal, which involves a 50-50 funding split.

The Gold Coast is fed up with the argument. The politics is tiresome. So we have a suggestion how to get this deal done.

Ms Trad and Federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher should be forced to sit together in a car on the M1, where they can experience the trials of travelling that motorway – and not allowed off until they have sorted out the funding and planning. Shouldn’t take too long.