Open up tunnel deal

But once RiverCity Motorway was chosen, there was no longer a need for secrecy. Since then council has selectively released information regarding the contract.

The Lord Mayor has promised that there will be no onerous conditions in the contract and reassured us this won't be a repeat of the Cross-City tunnel disaster. But given the Lord Mayor's track record on promises and honesty, I think we have reason to be worried. In 2004 Newman promised us a $2 toll for the tunnel, which has risen to $4.10. More recently he told us that the tunnel would cost "$2 billion plus", but later revealed that this actually meant $3 billion plus.

And in May The Courier-Mail revealed that there are clauses in the contract that will give the council financial incentives to funnel traffic into the tunnel.

The Cross-City tunnel contract in Sydney includes similar profit-sharing agreements between government and the private sector.

It is certainly in the interests of the Lord Mayor and RiverCity Motorway to keep the dirty details of the contract secret until it is too late.

But ratepayers already have paid more than $83 million for the tunnel, will pay another $54 million this financial year, and will contribute $292 million for construction costs in the future. The community is a huge financial shareholder in this project, and we must ensure that a deal is made that promotes the public interest.

Therefore I call on Brisbane City Council and the RiverCity Motorway consortium to release the tunnel contract for 20 days of public scrutiny prior to financial close.

This is not an unreasonable request in an advanced modern democracy. If it is in the public interest then there should be no problem in releasing it for a brief period of public scrutiny.