WATT A HIDE
Labor powerbroker’s stand threatens to derail tram expansion
SENATOR Murray Watt chose a Gold Coast office with the tram running past his front door.
He took Labor leader Bill Shorten for a ride on the light rail and, as the party’s most powerful Gold Coast politician, smashed the Glitter Strip’s “LNP layabouts” for taking the city “for granted” and failing to “meet local residents’ needs”.
Guess what? When asked by the Bulletin yesterday why he would not fight for the extra $45 million needed to get light rail Stage 3 over the line, he said it was not a priority.
LABOR’S most powerful Gold Coast politician is refusing to fight for extra funding for Stage 3 of the light rail as negotiations stall on the Glitter Strip’s most important public transport project.
When asked yesterday if he would fight for more funding to extend the trams to Burleigh, Southport-based Senator Murray Watt revealed the party’s priorities were Cross River Rail and the Pacific Mwy.
Mayor Tom Tate has pleaded with both sides of federal politics to provide a “fair funding deal” similar to the one signed off late yesterday by the council for the State Government.
Labor is only prepared to match the Morrison Government’s $112 million which the council says will be $45 million short on delivering the next stage of light rail.
The Bulletin asked Sen Watt a series of critical questions in the hope of breaking the funding deadlock.
When asked why he was not fighting for the extra funding, Sen Watt said Federal Labor’s highest priorities for helping with Gold Coast traffic congestion were to fund Cross River Rail and to widen and upgrade the M1.
Political analysts are stunned by Labor’s stalling on light rail. They say agreeing to look at extra funding would give the ALP “a free kick” to win the marginal northern Gold Coast seat of Forde.
Both Mr Shorten and Mr Morrison are yet to respond after Cr Tate set a 9am deadline last Tuesday to provide the extra funding which he maintained could be sourced from the $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund.
“I am a strong supporter of building Stage 3A of the light rail, and have explained its importance to both Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, the Shadow Infrastructure Minister,” Sen Watt said.
Sen Watt has consistently criticised the performance of the city’s LNP MPs, and recently attacked outgoing MP Steve Ciobo.
“Steve is one of many LNP representatives who have been more focused on getting themselves ahead than getting much done on the Gold Coast,” he said in March.
“... He’s always more about Steve Ciobo than he has been about the Gold Coast.
“The Gold Coast deserves MPs who are hungry to meet local residents’ needs, not LNP layabouts who take them for granted.”
Cr Tate yesterday called for “fairness” by all sides.
The council is seeking 22 per cent of the $740 million total cost, like it did for Stage 2, rather than the current 15 per cent offer.
“The message is loud and clear, be fair about it and match the percentage funding of light rail Stage 2,” Cr Tate said.
A majority of councillors yesterday voted that the Mayor and CEO Dale Dickson enter into a funding agreement with the Palaszczuk Government.
“From a council point of view, if we’re fair about it the Federal Government should be fair about it,” Cr Tate said.
Sen Watt defended his credentials when it came to fighting for the Coast. (See his answers above).
MURRAY Watt has two weeks to decide whose side he is on: the Australian Labor Party or the people.
As Labor’s only federal voice on the Gold Coast, Senator Watt has significant clout on the party’s footprint in the city.
His boss Bill Shorten is in a dog fight to win the Coast’s only marginal seat of Forde, considered an integral link to Labor reclaiming the keys to The Lodge.
But as leading political commentators say Labor, the $1.27 favourite to win the election, is blowing it.
Dr Paul Williams said committing the extra money to Stage 3 of the light rail was a “free kick” to winning the vital northern Gold Coast seat and he could not understand why Labor had refused to lock it in.
The Bulletin and Mayor Tom Tate have repeatedly asked the same question and are yet to receive a reply. The newspaper has also asked Sen Watt. Each time he sprayed the LNP, but did not answer the question the Gold Coast wants answered.
Sen Watt has a history of savaging the performance of LNP MPs on the Gold Coast, most recently attacking the outgoing Steve Ciobo.
“He opposed funding for light rail when Federal Labor committed it and ultimately I don’t think he has a lot to show for 17 years in office,” Sen Watt said in March. “The Gold Coast deserves MPs who are hungry to meet local residents’ needs, not LNP layabouts who take them for granted.”
In light of Labor’s silence on the light rail in the past week, critics are questioning Sen Watt’s fight for the Coast.
They say the hypocrisy reeks. Federal insiders suggest there is no official obligation to commit to the light rail because ultimately it is a state issue.
It is a shame the major federal parties did not uphold the same values when refusing to commit 80 per cent of funding to upgrade the M1. The State Government argued the road was a national project and the Federal Government should do the heavy lifting, as it did on major roads interstate.
There is also precedence in the light rail funding. For Stage 1, the Federal Government coughed up 38 per cent of the total cost. Stage 2 attracted 22 per cent, the same contribution both the council and State Government are asking today.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista did not hold back when asked about Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr Shorten’s interest in the Gold Coast.
“The infrastructure assistance that we need from the Federal Government, including light rail, is so glaring,” she said last week. “It’s been fascinating for me as a relative newcomer how under-invested the Federal Government has been on the Gold Coast and I know that’s because for one side of politics it’s safe and for the other side it’s unwinnable.”
Pledging the extra money will not win Labor a seat in the inner-city, but it will help decide Forde. Regardless, Gold Coasters pay taxes too and the project is vital to other major developments and easing traffic congestion.
Sen Watt needs to get above the politics and do what is right for the community. Residents are tired of the mudslinging. Answer the question and have the guts to lobby for crucial infrastructure.
The clock is ticking.