Brisbane City Council's LNP administration has threatened to slash more than $40 million worth of projects, including Progress Road in the city's south-west, if the state government does not pay $10 million for intersection upgrades associated with the Queens Wharf project.
But State Development Minister Anthony Lynham has offered the biggest olive branch yet and hinted the council could yet be in for a pay day.
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Queens Wharf casino: flyover
Echo Entertainment's bold plan for Queens Wharf includes five hotels, 50 restaurants, a sky deck and bridge to South Bank.
"The minister is advised that the chief executive officers of Brisbane City Council and key state agencies continue to have ongoing discussions regarding these minor works," a spokesman for Dr Lynham said.
"At this time the real costs are not yet confirmed.
"Brisbane City councillors should be aware that discussions are ongoing."
The council has been campaigning to recoup the money for nine CBD intersection upgrades that were needed because of changed traffic conditions and bus routes brought on by the construction and operation of Queens Wharf, which would include the six-year closure of William Street.
It was the latest in a series of recent run-ins with the state government, which Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said had left the council "hanging" with a $10 million black hole in its budget.
LNP councillors took to the floor of the council chamber this week to outline the council projects that would be scrapped – Progress Road stage four and the Dowse Lagoon (Sandgate) and Forest Lake fountains – if it did not recoup the $10 million.
There was $36.39 million over four years in the 2016-17 council budget for the Paragraph Road project, and a total of $8.55 million for the city's fountain program, which included $5 million for the Sandgate and Forest Lake fountains.
Infrastructure chairman Amanda Cooper was adamant Progress Road would not go ahead if the state government did not pay the council's CBD intersection upgrade bill.
"If they don't reimburse council, there will be no progress for Progress Road," she said.
"The last stage of that four-stage project to upgrade Progress Road will have to be, as a consequence of the state government's own decision, will not occur because of the cost to council.
"This is a key east-west corridor connection between the Ipswich Motorway at Wacol and Beaudesert Road. It's identified as a primary freight access route in the city plan and this project is now in jeopardy because of the actions of the state Labor government.
"This is a disgrace. This is an absolute abrogation of their responsibility."
Field services chairman Peter Matic said fountains in Labor-held wards, at Dowse Lagoon in Sandgate and Forest Lake, would also be under threat.
They were two of the four new fountains announced by Lord Mayor Graham Quirk during the lead-up to this year's council election, taking up $5 million of the total $8.55 million fountain budget.
The others due to be built were a King George Square fountain and the Brisbane River-based Daphne Mayo fountain.
"When you've got (Labor) councillors opposite who are not supporting these projects, when you've got a state government that is not supporting the ratepayers of Brisbane, this council is placed in a very difficult position on where to go with this," Cr Matic said.
"At the end of the day, we still have to address this question. There is still $10 million left outstanding."
Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Shayne Sutton said the LNP was engaging in "political posturing" over the issue to cover its own procedural failings.
"Brisbane City Council should have got an up-front agreement from the state government before they ever said yes to doing these works," she said.
"It should have been a simple memorandum of understanding that confirmed, up front, the state's reimbursement of these costs.
"They have only got themselves to blame that they're not going to get this money recouped.
"Good, standard practice would have been for them to get an MOU signed, then we would have done the work and we would have got the cash before the end of the financial year."
Cr Sutton said she believe the state Labor government should pay the council the $10 million, but an agreement – in writing – should have been met before the work started.
"For the life of me, I cannot understand why they didn't do that. The only explanation is sheer incompetence," she said.
Star Entertainment Group, which would build the $3 billion casino and resort complex, has also ruled out paying the $10 million bill.
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