‘TBC’: How $190 million was blown on Circular Quay revamp before the first sod is even turned

Consultants, lawyers and public servants account for almost one-third of the $190 million spent on planning the Circular Quay revamp before the much-hyped project stalled and tens of millions more were wasted drawing up schemes that will never be built.

More than a year after a $716 million election promise to rebuild the symbolic gateway to Sydney faltered due to a lack of future funding, the Minns government is no closer to approving construction despite the vast sums spent so far.

The redevelopment has been plagued by false starts, funding uncertainty and a political dispute over whether the Cahill Expressway, the much-maligned freeway that separates the harbour from the city, should be turned into a New York-style highline as part of the overall revamp.

Minns pledged to scrap the expressway element before the 2023 election but he pledged to push ahead with a major rebuild of the five main ferry wharves and pre-Sydney Olympics-era promenade between the train station and the harbour edge.

The government last year conceded that nearly $190 million had been spent on planning – much of which began under Coalition governments led by Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet.

“This was a Mad Men-style spending splurge as the former government plotted from 2016 to bring a slice of the Big Apple to Sydney in the form of a New York highline transplanted on the Cahill Expressway,” Transport Minister John Graham said on Sunday. “It was always headline first, substance a long last.”

A breakdown of costs seen by the Herald shows for the first time how the money has been spent. At least one-third – or $60 million – has been directed towards an unnamed “project team” as well as “other consultants, approval fees and legal”. More than $15 million has been paid out for “site investigations” and $10 million on initial architectural and engineering “concepts”.

The spending continued after the Minns government took office, before plunging last year as Labor signalled doubts about whether it could afford to proceed with the revamp.

The government is unable to say whether the project will proceed, citing a tight budget and the risk of cost blowouts. However, the government is in a quandary as the vast sums spent on consultants and contractors will be money down the drain if the project doesn’t move to the construction phase.

The $190 million is about one-third of the cost of the Ryde Hospital redevelopment, or enough to build four new primary schools.

Since Labor took power in 2023, nearly $108 million has been spent on Circular Quay project planning. But the rate