Jobs fears on changes for project
TIMELINE
2009
Riyu Li spends $81.9 million for the Pacific Beach site where Jewel is to be built.
2011 June 23.
Ridong announces $900 million Jewel towers with a planned opening date of Christmas 2014.
Gold Coast City Council planning committee approves the development.
November 22. 2012 May 7.
Fears grow that Jewel might never be built, but Ridong slams the rumours and says it will find a hotel provider.
Jewel project is referred to the Planning and Environment Court after two appeals against council’s decision.
The Newman Government calls in the development in a move that ends legal wrangling.
State Government approves the Jewel project.
May 15. July 7. September 9. 2014 July 3.
China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda, visits the Gold Coast, meets Mayor Tom Tate and property broker Roland Evans, and agrees to buy the project.
Wanda commits $300 million to the project after buying a 55 per cent stake in it from Ridong.
August 13. 2015 January 9.
Wanda Ridong establishes Gold Coast headquarters at 50 Cavill Ave. Construction begins on Jewel after four years of
March 31.
planning. It has an expected completion date of 2018.
Units in Jewel are announced as costing up to $15 million each.
Jewel launches sales and display centre.
More than 40 buyers pay $5000 deposits to buy into the complex.
April 1. August 8. August 19. 2016 January 29.
Brookfield Multiplex wins more than $500 million of contracts to build Jewel. It vows none of the work will be outsourced to China. Concrete pours begin. Wanda Ridong launches the second stage of unit sales.
June 10. July 11. 2017 August 9.
Wanda rejects claims Jewel is for sale.
2018 January 25.
Wanda moves to sell its majority share in Jewel. Yuhu Group which purchased 45 per cent of Jewel from Ridong for an estimated $260 million in February. Jewel sales are
February. February 15.
put on hold.
Jewel’s new owners consider changing the pricing and marketing on the project, with 60 per cent of it remaining unsold.
Yuhu buys remaining share from Wanda Group.
Jewel faces a major demolition and overhaul job to replace and redo bathrooms.
Yuhu announces it will partially break its contract with Brookfield Multiplex, with up to 1000 jobs at risk.
May 24. May. May 30. September 26.
HUNDREDS of workers and contractors on the $1 billionplus Jewel towers face uncertain futures with redesigns causing construction delays and fuelling job loss fears.
About 50 staff from one Jewel contractor – Ingrams Shopfitting and Fine Joinery – are already casualties in upheaval at the triple-highrise site on the Surfers Paradise beachfront.
An Ingrams spokesman said 30 workers had been let go plus 20 factory staff off-site after a cease and desist letter from site builder Multiplex.
Another contractor confirmed he yanked his crew off the job recently to place them at other unrelated projects due to a lack of clarity about what to proceed with at Jewel.
Workers met with construction union CFMEU representatives on site for 90 minutes yesterday and afterwards some left the site but most went back on the job.
Another meeting is scheduled this morning, sending shockwaves through the 900strong workforce and fuelling rumours cheaper labour would be brought in to finish the job.
One worker said: “I was told the developer was sacking the builder, Multiplex. So we’ll be leaving.
“I was told by my boss they’re giving us until Wednesday because of the public PASSING THE BUCK WHEN asked about the Jewel situation, Minister for State Development Cameron Dick passed the buck to Minister for Public Works Mick de Brenni and Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace.
De Brenni and Grace passed the buck to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Palaszczuk passed the buck to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and Federal Government.
The Department of Home Affairs passed the buck to the Department of Employment.
The Department of Employment passed the buck to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Surfers Paradise MP JohnPaul Langbroek said he preferred to stay away from the situation occurring in his own electorate. Mayor Tom Tate said developers were within their rights and doubted jobs would be affected.
Federal Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer’s office was unable to comment.
holiday, then most of us will get the tap on the shoulder.”
Another said since new Chinese owners Yuhu Group took over, “it has been chaos”.
He had heard Multiplex were losing the project’s ground-level podium aspects where restaurants, bars and lobbies would be installed.
“It’s all over the place. There are going to be a lot of job losses,” the worker said.
A Yuhu Group statement revealed while developer Multiplex remained the “major project partner” some work would be retendered, “ensuring the Jewel hotel meets and exceeds the highest of international standards”.
“The final design and configuration elements of the lower podium levels of the hotel – excluding the 169 hotel rooms – are yet to be finalised.
“As a result, this work will be carried out later in the construction schedule and will be subject to new tendering opportunities,” the Yuhu statement said. “Multiplex is of course aware of these arrangements. Construction on all other areas of the development is to continue as scheduled (under Multiplex).”
Coast-based Labor Senator Murray Watt called on Yuhu Group to “rule out’’ replacing local workers with cheaper labour from elsewhere and give assurances staff terms and conditions would not change.
“I am extremely concerned by reports Yuhu Group may be using changes to their tendering to bring in cheaper labour,” he said. “Yuhu Group must rule this out … There are hundreds of subbies, workers and thousands of family members being left in the lurch.”
Despite new tenders, a Yuhu Group spokeswoman said local trades and labourers would be used.