LNP divided on Broadwater sandbank, CST

THE LNP is deeply divided about the Broadwater, with some Gold Coast MPs championing a cruise ship terminal while others are scathing about preserving a sandbank for migratory birds.

Bonney MP Sam Connor, who has supported Curlew Island being designated as an environmental reserve, told State Parliament during debate on The Spit master plan legislation that sand banks around the island off Labrador should be protected.

He said he had urged Gold Coast Waterways CEO Hal Morris to install signs as soon as possible on the island to warn visitors that migratory birds roosted there.

“When these birds fly unnecessarily they burn energy. That gives them less to use on their migration which, on a long journey of thousands of kilometres, can be the difference between life and death,” Mr O’Connor said.

But Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens wants Broadwater sandbanks dredged, saying they were an unnecessary obstacle to boaties.

“I looked from my inlaws’ Labrador unit across this little sandbank that they are now calling Curlew Island with one poor old mangrove hanging off it,” Mr Stevens said.

“That sort of thinking will not help the boating industry in the long term for the Gold Coast.”

Surfers Paradise MP JohnPaul Langbroek said he was concerned The Spit master plan did not consider Mayor Tom Tate’s proposed offshore cruise ship terminal at Philip Park.

“Whilst Labor does not include a cruise ship terminal in the blueprint for the future of The Spit, it is willing to name sandbanks, something which I opposed in 2015 and which I oppose now,” he said.

Burleigh MP Michael Hart told Parliament: “Most of the people I speak to think a cruise ship terminal is a good idea.”

But Mr O’Connor said support for a CST was 50-50 on the Gold Coast, and while he was against a terminal inside the Broadwater he supported exploring an offshore option if “it stacks up”.

He believed much of the opposition among this colleagues to Curlew Island was about the sandbank having a name.

“You can’t dredge the whole of the Broadwater. You need to preserve some sections for environmental reasons,” he said.

Southport MP Rob Molhoek supported Mr O’Connor’s bid to protect Curlew Island but did not believe an offshore cruise ship terminal, given the harsh wave conditions on the Coast’s northern end, would be viable.

“I’d love for us to have a cruise ship terminal. I just don’t believe it’s the best investment for us at this time in terms of bang for buck,” he said.