The Sunshine Coast community doesn’t care for political games, they just want their overdue Sunshine Coast Rail built.
Twelve months ago, Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien and I stood near the site of the future Maroochydore railway station to announce the historic $1.6 billion federal funding for Sunshine Coast Rail.
It marked six years of Ted and I dragging Ministers and Prime Ministers up to the Sunshine Coast to show them just how gridlocked the Sunshine Coast has become and how transformational this project will be.
Two decades after State Labor set aside the CAMCOS corridor and with overwhelming support from the Sunshine Coast community, we secured a $1.6B commitment from the then Coalition Government.
Despite a change in Government last year, Federal Labor have retained the $1.6B commitment, albeit with $900 million cut from the first five years of the project (2024-25 to 2028-29) with funding back ended and completion delayed.
And from State Labor? Crickets.
Since $1.6B was put on the table by the Federal Government, Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey has done nothing except politicise this generational project, the largest infrastructure project ever announced for the Sunshine Coast. Neither he nor the Premier have put one cent on the table. Zilch. Nada. Nothing.
Instead, Mark Bailey is complaining that the Federal Government didn’t come to him earlier with a pot of gold offering him 50% of the costs to build the rail which is the State Government’s infrastructure. A project that is 100% the responsibility of the State Government.
Comments from a non-committal Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk are also concerning. When the Premier says they are “looking at the priorities that are needed for the Games,” it doesn’t sound good. The Sunshine Coast community know that this State Labor Government have prioritised and are committed to Brisbane and Gold Coast infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, the two Labor State Members on the Coast need to step up and go into bat for their constituents. They need to decide whether they represent the needs of their communities on the Sunshine Coast or are they just the Premier’s mouthpieces in Caloundra and Nicklin.
Delivery of this project in time for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is now at risk under Federal Labor’s budget cuts and State Labor’s inaction, as the current timelines are vulnerable to any further delays to delivery of this project.
Time is ticking on an estimated eight-year project with the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games now just nine years away.
Regardless of the importance of getting this project done for Olympic and Paralympic Games events on the Coast, this crucial project was long overdue with our significant increase in population. But the catalyst for starting this project now is the Games.
The $3.2 billion project, to be split 50:50 between Australian and Queensland governments, will see 37km of passenger rail built from Beerwah to Caloundra, Kawana, and Maroochydore.
It will connect our coastal community with our hinterland community and on to Brisbane City – a win for the entire Southeast Queensland region.
For every person in Southeast Queensland who has had to sit on the Bruce Highway car park upwards from two to three hours on a Sunday afternoon and every weekday, Sunshine Coast Rail is for them just as much as it is for Coast residents and businesses. Every day that Labor delays the announcement of their support will mean higher construction costs. The State LNP team are on board, it’s time for Queensland Labor to do likewise. The clock is ticking. We have no time to waste.
Ted O’Brien, myself, and the State LNP Team are committed to fighting for Sunshine Coast Rail until the final sleeper is laid at Maroochydore station, and we will continue to hold both Labor Governments to account.