Road rage over land buy-up
THREE-QUARTERS of the $165m allocated last year for the second M1 was spent on land and studies instead of building the road, the state opposition says.
But Transport Minister Mark Bailey says if the LNP had secured and maintained the proposed route while in power, he wouldn’t have to worry about it.
The first section of the Coomera Connector from Nerang to Coomera is designed to end gridlock on the Pacific Motorway. It is expect ed to open in late 2024 but recent budget documents show a big spend continuing until 2026.
Bonny MP Sam O’Connor asked Mr Bailey in parliament to provide a breakdown of the $165m spent to 2021–22 and the plans for the $265m allocated for 2022–23.
The Minister confirmed $165m had been spent to June 30, including almost $122m on environmental studies and property acquisition covering land parcels required for environmental offsets.
About $36.5m was spent on design and contract administration elements, including onthe-ground site investigations across the Stage 1 route.
Project management costs make up the $7m balance of the last financial year budget.
“The state government’s second M1 spin has been exposed,” Mr O’Connor told the Bulletin.
“Despite years of announcements and press conferences with Labor ministers coming down to the Gold Coast in hard hats and high vis, this breakdown shows nothing on the ground has started.”
“After more than seven years, planning and design work hasn’t even been finished. Three-quarters of the money spent so far, over $120m, has gone into just buying land to build the road.
“The rest all went into planning and we still haven’t seen the environment report which was meant to be released mid-year.”
Mr Bailey rejected the commentary on the figures as “misleading”.
“Slippery Sam is living up to his nickname,” he said. “As was reported in the Gold Coast Bulletin in 2014 when the LNP were last in power, second M1 progress was blocked by Slippery Sam’s own LNP. That’s a fact.
“In contrast, the Palaszczuk Labor government secured all three sections of the full 43km second M1 corridor by 2019 in record time and obtained full joint funding within 18 months.
“Slippery Sam’s latest political whinging sounds more like a primary school kid playing with his Lego than an adult MP who understands how a major infrastructure project is built in the real world. He is an embarrassment to the LNP and the Gold Coast,” Mr Bailey said.
He added it was “especially galling when one remembers his LNP promised at the last election only a six kilometre puny version of this project”, leaving out the entire 10km southern section south of the Gold Coast Highway to Carrara.