THE SATURDAY GRILL: Coomera MP Michael Crandon on why the state government is playing with lives and the Coomera Connector is all talk and no action

THE government is “playing with people’s lives” and just 404 beds at a new city hospital in six years is “just a joke”, says the MP backing the fastest growing area in the country.

Coomera MP Michael Crandon has spoken out about the booming electorate, which encompasses Coomera, Upper Coomera, Pimpama, Hope Island, Jacobs Well, Steiglitz and even parts of Logan.

He also reveals why he thinks promises to build the Coomera Connector in coming years are “all talk, no action”.

Q: You’ve lived in the area for almost 50 years – what has been the biggest change in that time?

A: Obviously, right in the middle of that time was the construction of a major eightlane highway through the middle of our patch. The M1. At the time it was like, ‘wow, this will never fill up’. Who would have imagined then the next step, the development either side of it.

Q: How did you actually get started in politics?

A: It was a matter of a whole bunch of things falling into place in one year, the sale of my business, my wife and I going on long-service leave. We did a three month trip and came back, changes had occurred in the northern Gold Coast.

The thing that really got me committed was simply that it was another step up to helping the community from Rotary, Scouts, Little Athletics. So it was a natural progression.

Q: The Coomera electorate is one of the fastest growing regions in the country. What are the key projects it needs

fast-tracked in the next 12 months?

A: We needed the Pimpama train station last year. I keep going over the same thing time and time again and being ignored.

The local residents have to leave earlier and they’re getting home later because of the traffic delays, it’s about helping the people.

Q: You hold your seat by a margin of just 1.1 per cent – in 2020 just under 800 votes kept you your seat for a 5th term. What are you doing to hold on to it in 2024?

A: I’m not doing anything to cement my spot, what I’m doing is the job, for my community. That’s the best I can do, that’s all I can do, is keep bringing to attention the needs of my community.

What I do is not about politics, it’s not about winning the next election. I am passionate about delivering for my community and that’s all I can do, keep on going with the passion.

Q: Do you see the Coomera Hospital, with just 404 beds, being enough to cope with the strain when it opens in 2028?

A: No. It goes nowhere near being enough, it’s a joke. (404 beds) is a figure that’s been pulled out of the air to try and satisfy the pressure. They’ve known about the growth in the northern Gold Coast for years.

They’re playing with people’s lives with this stuff.

When they made that announcement in October 2020 it was the day prepoll voting opened, it was to give the booth staff something to say besides, “Annastacia saved you”, “we’re building a hospital in the northern Gold Coast”.

They weren’t building a hospital. They’re still not building a hospital.

Q: What would you do differently to make the hospital project viable for the area?

A: We need a dedicated team of people committed to fasttracking the construction.

They’ve got the plans to build it but it’s just been put on the slow burner again, it’s been put off.

They could be bringing that $20 million (for early works) forward, saying, “we’re going to get fair-dinkum about this, we’re going to do Stage 1 with 404 beds and deliver it by 2026”.

Q: You claimed in 2020 the LNP would build the Coomera Connector within four years. We’ve still seen no works underway. What are your feelings towards the project now?

A: I can only reflect on what happened back in 2020, when we were saying we were going to build a long bridge over the Coomera River to connect Shipper Drive and the Gold Coast Highway.

We knew that 6km stretch of road was at the core of issues with the M1.

Then the Transport Minister came in and said, “that’s nothing, we’re going to build a 16km highway, it’s going to be six lanes, cost $1.5 billion, and we’ll get started next year.”

It was all talk, no action.

Itgoes nowhere near being enough, it’s a joke. (404 b eds) ... is a f igure that’s been pulled out of the air to try and satisfy the pressure. They’re playing with people’s lives with this stuff.

Q: Earlier this year you asked for an extra $18,000 in funds a year to cope with the size of your area. What difference would that money make?

A: Well, I ended up getting $2500. What that means is I’ve got even less to give to my community because I’ve been employing a halftime person since February 2021.

I’ve got $19.5k less to invest in my community because I’m paying it in wages, but that means we’re able to maintain a level of service when people are contacting us.

It’s a balancing act.

Q: What is your biggest strength? What is your biggest weakness?

A: My biggest strength is my tenacity, I don’t give up, and I know my stuff. Biggest weakness, my blind determination, it gets me so passionate at times that I get people offside.

Q: What legacy do you hope to leave behind when you finally do leave the role? What do you want to be your crowning achievement?

A: For me it’s about the kids, our future generations, and what I want to leave them is a community they can be proud of and be involved in.

And one of the things among all that, a very small spend if we ever get it across the line, is a PCYC.

I talk about the northern Gold Coast as where Heaven meets Earth, it’s perfect in every way in that you’ve got plenty of green, wonderful community groups developing and we’re not far from the Gold Coast and the big smoke.

Once we get these traffic woes resolved, we’ve got the capacity to really enjoy our lives here.