Joint media release: Turnbull Government recommits to M1 funding

Today I met with Queensland Roads Minister Mark Bailey, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and representatives of the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland and Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland to discuss funding for the M1 Motorway.

Following determined advocacy from Federal Queensland LNP MPs Bert van Manen and Karen Andrews, the Turnbull Government has provided $215 million to widen the M1 to five lanes from the Gateway Motorway merge to past the Rochedale Road off-ramp and to upgrade the M1 from four lanes to six between Robina Town Centre Drive and Reedy Creek Road.

This money was provided on a 50:50 basis in keeping with similar commitments around Queensland and Australia, and in keeping with the 50:50 basis on which federal Coalition and Labor governments have funded the M1 for many years.

Mr Bailey sought to cite a 2014 media release from then Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss which referred to funding principles for “road and rail projects on the national network outside the metropolitan areas” – which of course has no relevance to the M1 which runs within one of Australia’s largest metropolitan areas, the Gold Coast-Logan-Brisbane conurbation.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed that Commonwealth and Queensland officials would meet to discuss whether it would make sense to hold a tender or expressions of interest process on these two M1 projects, so as to obtain firm costings from construction companies for the two projects.

We also agreed that officials would discuss the potential timing of funding, after I indicated that the Commonwealth may be prepared to provide its funding earlier in the life of the project if this assisted the Queensland Government in providing its share of the funding.