Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair Sandy Zubrinich says heavy rail must be delivered before the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“For more than two decades, successive governments have repeatedly promised to deliver heavy rail between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast — yet here we are, still debating the viability of this transformative infrastructure investment while our region waits for action,“ she said.
“From the former Beattie ALP government’s Transport Minister Paul Lucas committing $480 million in 2005 to deliver rail into Caloundra by 2015 extending into Maroochydore by 2020, to the various LNP candidates making the same pledge as recently as the 2024 election, this vital infrastructure has been used as a political bargaining chip for far too long.
“When we secured the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in July of 2021, a rail connection between Brisbane and the South East Queensland regions of the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast, was touted as a key legacy outcome as a result of hosting the Games. Finally, we had a definitive date to work towards, and 13 years to deliver – a timeline that the experts confirmed was achievable.
“Fast forward to 2024 — yes, another three years of valuable delivery time had passed — and after more than two decades of advocacy and planning, the delivery of Stage 1 of the heavy rail connection between Brisbane and Caloundra by 2032 was finally announced by the Miles Labor State Government in February with a funding commitment of $2.75 billion. This was after Federal Members Ted O’Brien and Andrew Wallace secured an initial $1.6 billion in federal funding in 2022. Further funding was later committed by the Albanese Federal Labor Government in May last year taking the Federal commitment to $2.75 billion.
“Since then, the project has again faced significant cost reassessments, with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) now estimating Stage 1 — the 19km dual track extending the rail from Beerwah to Caloundra — will cost between $5 billion and $7billion. Despite this increased cost, this stage has been committed to and funded and should therefore be delivered without further delays.
“Delivering heavy rail all the way from Brisbane to the Maroochydore City Centre was after all an election promise made by the LNP in the lead-up to the last state election in October 2024.
“Now, the new LNP State Government is conducting a 100-day Review of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which called for community submissions by 10 January.
“For the Sunshine Coast Business Council (SCBC), our submission was clear: the heavy rail link between Brisbane and the Maroochydore City Centre must be delivered before the Games, as promised.“
