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More than $630,000 in state government funding has been set aside to renovate a property part-owned by a south-east Queensland councillor.
Meanwhile, a Liberal-National MP supported by the councillor in the 2024 state election spruiked the project on social media as training local jobseekers, without disclosing the property’s owner.
Redlands councillor Shane Rendalls is the part-owner of an expansive property on Russell Island, east of Brisbane, where 24 workers from the state government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work scheme have been approved to renovate seven cabins and a three-bedroom house.
Property owners Shane Rendalls (left) and Dan Golin.
Rendalls and his wife, Elizabeth, bought the property through their super fund, and share ownership with local builder and president of the Southern Moreton Bay Islands Chamber of Commerce, Dan Golin.
Golin’s share is owned through the Marley Investment Group, a trust of which he is listed as the sole director.
Rendalls, himself a former president of the SMBI Chamber of Commerce, was elected to council in 2024, when he ran as a community-focused independent.
The property was purchased for $975,000 in April last year.
A work training company called Skill360, run by BUSY At Work, struck a funding deal in July for $636,700 to renovate the buildings and provide 24 workers with a Certificate 1 in construction as part of the Skilling Queenslanders for Work program.
All projects funded by the scheme are supposed to benefit the community.
The state government says that during the 20-week traineeship, the house will be refurbished for use as a community centre and seven cabins renovated for crisis accommodation.
The traineeship and workers’ wages will be covered by the program’s funding.
Rendalls and Young on a ferry in January.
A spokesperson for Minister for Employment and Training Ros Bates said all funding decisions were made by the department.
During the state election, Rendalls and Golin supported the now member for Redlands, Rebecca Young, with Cr Rendalls writing an endorsement for her campaign.
“Rebecca Young has always been a strong supporter of SMBI, helping to bring investment, jobs and opportunity to the islands,” it read.
Golin handed out how-to-vote cards in a blue LNP “Rebecca Young for Redlands” T-shirt during last year’s election.
Golin (left), Young and Rendalls at a chamber of commerce meeting on Macleay Island this week.
He and Rendalls have since been vocal supporters of Young, appearing with her at multiple events, including an SMBI Chamber of Commerce meeting this week.
The state government says it has no plans to operate further programs on the property, and a company called Good Wilma will run the facilities.
Good Wilma Ltd was registered in June, with Golin, wife Michelle, and the councillor’s wife, Elizabeth Rendalls, listed as operators.
Rendalls said the property was donated “as a training location to BUSY At Work”.
“We received no funding as a venue, and we donated towards the cost of the program,” he said.
He maintains the arrangement was organised while the previous government was in place.
“We have established a [not for profit] with a housing focus to establish affordable housing for vulnerable older women, and emergency housing/safe housing for women, and a safe house for victims of domestic violence. This is our giving back to the community,” he said.
He also said the owners had donated goods such as a “toaster, kettle, fridges, food, toilet paper, sanitary supplies for girls, and some goods to the trainee programs”.
Golin (right) campaigning for Rebecca Young.
There were no plans to build a community centre, Rendalls said, but there were plans for the house to be used as a “communal area for residents”.
Golin told this masthead the owners would be paying for all future renovations to the property, and BUSY At Work would not be involved after the current project.
“We certainly won’t be profiting from any of the works we do; the vision of the property is to give back to the most vulnerable people of the community,” he said.
No development application for the block has been lodged with Redland City Council.
The project appears on a map called “Delivering for Redlands” on Young’s website, and she has posted about it on social media.
“Skill360 is training 24 locals on Russell Island in construction while transforming housing into vital community space,” she wrote on Facebook in August.
Young has met with Rendalls eight times since she was elected, according to her diary.
In a statement, she said the facilities were needed to help combat the scourge of domestic violence in Queensland.
“The safety of victim-survivors is one of the highest priorities for me, which is why I welcome additional domestic violence accommodation for the Redlands,” she said.
Redland City Council and BUSY At Work were contacted for comment.
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