However, in Gold Coast, Labor candidates making the Second M1 the centre of their campaign did not win with any LNP incumbents. Labor had and still has only 1 seat here despite supposedly the community wanting the Second M1 so badly. Is it possible that Labor got tricked by LNP claims about how important another motorway was to the residents?
The pre-election Courier Mail survey of over 8000 people showed that the fast rail network was by a long shot deemed the most critical to southeast Queensland:
If Labor campaigned on building the fast rail network, or at least extending the heavy rail to Coolangatta, which is long overdue, they would probably win more seats in Gold Coast.
In Coomera, where both Labor and LNP candidates were strongly pro-motorway, the swing to Labor was +2.4% after preferences, which is close to the state average.
In Bonney, where residents of The Surrounds and Arundel Springs would be most affected by the motorway, the local LNP member Sam O’Connor decided to go against the party policy and proposed that the motorway should NOT go through his electorate. The Labor Transport Minister Mark Bailey argued on Twitter against this shorter route - from Coomera to Helensvale, inadvertently exposing a problem of trying to fix car congestion in a city by building more roads: gridlock from day 1:
Yep, more roads = more congestion, if not here, then somewhere else. If the full Second M1 is built, it will send 120,000 more cars every day onto Gold Coast and Brisbane streets.
The "honourable" Transport Minister even tried to ridicule Sam O’Connor for listening to the residents:
Well, guess who the voters liked better:
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What does the election result mean for us? The ball seems to be with the Federal Liberal/National Government. They could remove funding on the environmental grounds. They could perhaps remove funding because Qld Labor hid the options analysis, manipulated the public consultation and then reported the results in a misleading way. This would be the right thing to do.
Qld Labor could also mend their ways. The on-going stage 1 business case could include the true costs of a motorway to the society and the environment: impact of the air and noise pollution on the health of the people, the economic costs of road deaths and injuries, the loss of wildlife habitat, the increased traffic in Gold Coast and Brisbane, etc. The Labor party members should ask: why is the options analysis document kept hidden from the public? Is a motorway the best use of this state land? Would a western bypass of Gold Coast be a better solution for the interstate traffic? Would light rail from Helensvale to Pimpama be a better solution for the local traffic? Qld Labor now knows that pushing for Second M1 did not get them any more seats. Time to invest in something good for the people and the environment.
---
So what can we do?
Writing to the federal LNP representative, state Labor representative, National Audit Office, Australian Senate Estimates Committee, or Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission might help.
If we could get an investigative journalist interested in this story, it might help.
Some of the members of the No Second M1 group are thinking of hiring a law firm. Please join the group and post if you want to get in touch.
---
Sources and references:
Election results:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Queensland_state_election
Courier Mail survey:
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/state-election-2020/sentiment-survey-queenslanders-have-their-say/news-story/b47110a7e6cdf2dc1f28c92da2660b5f
Light rail to Pimpama:
https://www.facebook.com/LightRailToPimpama/posts/2803057249977405
Public consultation:
https://nosecondm1.blogspot.com/2020/09/24-september-2020-tmr-consultation.html
Australian National Audit Office (ANAO):
https://www.anao.gov.au/
Australian Senate Estimates Committees:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Senate_Estimates
Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission:
https://www.ccc.qld.gov.au/
No Second M1 group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/637517416777136
Impact of air pollution on health:
https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/ambient-air-pollution
---
What does the election result mean for us? The ball seems to be with the Federal Liberal/National Government. They could remove funding on the environmental grounds. They could perhaps remove funding because Qld Labor hid the options analysis, manipulated the public consultation and then reported the results in a misleading way. This would be the right thing to do.
Qld Labor could also mend their ways. The on-going stage 1 business case could include the true costs of a motorway to the society and the environment: impact of the air and noise pollution on the health of the people, the economic costs of road deaths and injuries, the loss of wildlife habitat, the increased traffic in Gold Coast and Brisbane, etc. The Labor party members should ask: why is the options analysis document kept hidden from the public? Is a motorway the best use of this state land? Would a western bypass of Gold Coast be a better solution for the interstate traffic? Would light rail from Helensvale to Pimpama be a better solution for the local traffic? Qld Labor now knows that pushing for Second M1 did not get them any more seats. Time to invest in something good for the people and the environment.
---
So what can we do?
Writing to the federal LNP representative, state Labor representative, National Audit Office, Australian Senate Estimates Committee, or Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission might help.
If we could get an investigative journalist interested in this story, it might help.
Some of the members of the No Second M1 group are thinking of hiring a law firm. Please join the group and post if you want to get in touch.
---
Sources and references:
Election results:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Queensland_state_election
Courier Mail survey:
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/state-election-2020/sentiment-survey-queenslanders-have-their-say/news-story/b47110a7e6cdf2dc1f28c92da2660b5f
Light rail to Pimpama:
https://www.facebook.com/LightRailToPimpama/posts/2803057249977405
Public consultation:
https://nosecondm1.blogspot.com/2020/09/24-september-2020-tmr-consultation.html
Australian National Audit Office (ANAO):
https://www.anao.gov.au/
Australian Senate Estimates Committees:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Senate_Estimates
Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission:
https://www.ccc.qld.gov.au/
No Second M1 group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/637517416777136
Impact of air pollution on health:
https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/ambient-air-pollution
