'Made in China': Lord mayor sends Brisbane ferry terminal job offshore
Brisbane City Council lord mayor Graham Quirk has been accused of turning his back on local manufacturers after he handed jobs created by the new $7.5 million New Farm ferry terminal to China.
In October 2017, the council announced the terminal would be upgraded to improve accessibility and boost capacity as part of the council’s $52 million upgrade program to terminals along the Brisbane River.
An artist's impression of the upgraded New Farm Park ferry terminal
Photo: Brisbane City CouncilAt the time council’s public and active transport chairman Adrian Schrinner said the terminal would be a larger dual-berth terminal and have a new gangway and pontoon.
It has now been revealed the manufacturing of the pontoon and gangway has been done in China and ratepayers paid for a senior council employee to travel to China four times to inspect the works.
Questions were put to the lord mayor’s office on Wednesday morning, including how much the travel cost.
Opposition transport spokesman Jared Cassidy said local manufacturers had been left high and dry by the decision to have the terminal prefabricated in China.
“When the lord mayor talks about job creation, I assumed he meant in Brisbane, not Beijing,” Cr Cassidy said.
“He said the council was bound by its procurement policy to ‘develop competitive local business and industry’.
“Instead, the lord mayor has turned his back on the local manufacturing sector ... instead of supporting Australian industry, he’s gone for a Chinese takeaway.
“Industrial businesses account for about one in every six jobs in Brisbane but with outsourcing like this, we’ll see this great employment base disappear.
“The lord mayor’s huge PR machine has churned out thousands of words about the New Farm Park ferry terminal upgrade but I can’t see ‘made in China’ anywhere.”
The current New Farm Park ferry terminal, which will be closed from April 16 to late 2018.
The tender for the New Farm Park terminal upgrade was awarded to Waterway Construction Pty Ltd, which was also responsible for the Bulimba, Hawthorne and Bretts Wharf terminal upgrades.
It is unclear if the prefabrication works for the other awarded projects were done overseas.
Waterway Constructions was contacted for comment.
Information available on Translink’s website states the terminal will be closed from Monday, April 16 to late 2018 for the upgrade to be done.