Today People Power defeated Boral in the Planning and Environment Court.  Residents of Reedy Creek spoke loudly against the quarry and I have stood shoulder to shoulder with my residents and the STOP The Gold Coast Quarry Group.  I have been unwavering in my support of locals, just as I was when People Power stopped the Overhead Powerlines in Reedy Creek.  Special thanks to Mayor Tom Tate, Councillor Daphne McDonald, the Gold Coast City Council and most importantly the unwavering determination of Sam Stewart and his team who never gave up the fight to stop this quarry in our local area.

TIMELINE FACTS:

  • Andrew Fraser and Anna Bligh gave the Boral Quarry ‘Project of State Significance’ status on 19 November 2010.
  • Prior to the 2012 election Andrew Fraser wrote to the former Member for Burleigh, Christine Smith stating, “he would not call the quarry in prior to the 2012 election.”
  • The Coordinator General handed down his report on 20 December 2013.
  • The Gold Coast City Council rejected the application by Boral on 18 July 2014.
  • Former Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney stated he would not call in the quarry and would allow it to go through the process on 14 August 2014.
  • Boral lodged an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court on 11 August 2014.
  • The proposed call in notice was required to be given by the State Government 29 September 2014 which was after the date that Boral lodged their appeal.
  • At a meeting of the STOP the Gold Coast Quarry Group on the 29 April 2014, the then Leader of the Opposition, Annastacia Palaszczuk said that if elected Labor would stop the Quarry.  We all know how that turned out.
  • Click on the link to the Premier of QLD publicly stating that she would stop the Gold Coast Quarry if a Labor Government was elected.
  • On 12 April 2015, Labor’s Deputy Premier, Jackie Trad stated in a Press Release that:  ‘It is not now possible for me to call-in the proposed development should the court allow the quarry to proceed,’
  • The legal case in the Planning and Environment Court has been ongoing since August 2014.  The appeal has been currently set down for hearing for six (6) weeks commencing 17 October 2016.
  • As your local LNP Member of Parliament, I have always opposed the Quarry in Reedy Creek since the first public meeting in 2010 and will continue to oppose it.
  • On the 4 May 2017, the Planning and Environment Court upheld the Gold Coast City COuncil’s decision to reject Boral’s Quarry in Reedy Creek.

Deputy Premier should own up and take delivery of Labor’s Reedy Creek Quarry

Labor’s pre-election commitment to stopping the proposed Gold Coast Quarry at Reedy Creek has been revealed as a farce and a blatant vote buying exercise by the failed Labor candidates in Mudgeeraba, Burleigh and Currumbin.

Member for Mudgeeraba Ros Bates MP, Member for Burleigh Michael Hart MP and Member for Currumbin Jann Stuckey MP today slammed the Labor Government, who in a response to a question on notice from Ms Bates, revealed they would not have stopped the Gold Coast Quarry from going ahead.

“Now we see the Labor Government trying to weasel their way out of a situation they bequeathed to southern Gold Coast residents, with a tricky spin on dates,” said Ms Bates.

“The Deputy Premier states that the former LNP Government did not use its powers to ‘call-in’ the quarry prior to September 2014, when in fact it was already in the courts, appealed by Boral on the 11 August 2014 and could not have done so anyway.”

“What this means is that the Labor Party and its candidates were making empty promises right up until the election in 2015.”

“Ms Trad’s comments that:

‘It is not now possible for me to call-in the proposed development should the court allow the quarry to proceed,’

… demonstrates that the only way the quarry will not go ahead is if Boral loses its appeal in the Planning and Environment court,’ said Ms Bates.

Ms Bates said the Labor Party had tried to rewrite history by blaming the LNP for the former Labor Government’s decision to deliver the quarry.

“The Labor Party declared the quarry a Project of State Significance in 2010, and the former LNP Government adhered to the independent review processes required after this declaration.”

“The former LNP Government respected Council’s decision to reject Boral’s development application.”

“Labor’s record is clear. Labor gave us the quarry in 2010, they made empty promises to stop it in 2015, and after forming Government, they have revealed their lies to local residents.”

“We now have a Labor Government happy to announce LNP initiatives such as the ‘call-in’ of Pacific Views Estate but we also see the same old Labor lies trying to buck-pass their own quarry to the former LNP Government.”

“The Deputy Premier should own up and take the credit for this wonderful piece of infrastructure which no one on the Southern Gold Coast wanted.”