Gold Coast MP tells Transport Minister to hit the highway over funds spin

COOMERA MP Michael Crandon says Transport Minister Mark Bailey is the king of highway spin after producing documents that show the LNP did not abandon the second M1.

Mr Bailey yesterday said Labor had begun planning the Coomera Connector but was behind because the former Newman Government blocked it.

Mr Crandon told the Bulletin: “Mark Bailey is no doubt the master of spinning a yarn and diverting the story to hide his own lies.

“The reality is, as is supported by these 2014 emails, the LNP did not cancel the IRTC (Intra Regional Transport Corridor). In fact, the LNP commenced the gazettal process, something that Labor had never considered doing.”

In September 2014, South Coast Regional Transport and Main Roads regional director Paul Noonan updated Mr Bailey on the IRTC.

“As you may be aware the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has been preserving the IRTC corridor since the 1990s to meet future transport growth,” Mr Noonan wrote. “To date, two thirds of the corridor has been preserved.”

Then

Minister State Jeff Development Seeney had earlier advised the council that the IRTC could not be referenced in council’s Draft 2015 Gold Coast City Plan until it was a gazetted future statecontrolled road, Mr Noonan added.

Mr Seeney’s office had written to Mr Crandon confirming the IRTC had yet to be named or registered as a gazetted corridor. Mr Crandon said the email from Mr Seeney’s office clearly outlined that the road corridor could not be referred to as a state-controlled road, because it was not gazetted.

“History tells us that the new Labor Government then dragged their feet until 2016, to gazette the first stage,” Mr Crandon said.