Queensland has committed $4 million to a planned surf park at Parkwood on the Gold Coast, with former world champion Mick Fanning throwing his support behind a project that would pair a wave pool with a surf academy beside a golf course near Gold Coast University Hospital.
The announcement on Friday also included funding for a separate ecotourism venture in the Gold Coast hinterland, where developer David Taylor says the Numinbah Escape project would add a one-kilometre zipline across a 120-hectare site next to Springbrook National Park. Taylor said the development would also include a 34-site camping ground, amenities and a permanent cafe, and that his family had matched and exceeded the state’s investment.
The money is coming from an $80 million fund the state government is using to launch tourism initiatives across Queensland before the 2032 Olympics. The Palm Valley surf park sits inside a broader push to draw visitors to south-east Queensland with attractions that go beyond beaches and hotel stays.
Tourism Minister Andrew Powell put that case plainly, saying visitors “don’t just come to sit in a hotel or sit on a beach – they want adventure.” The comments framed the funding as part of a bet that Queensland can package outdoor activity, accommodation and new attractions into a stronger tourism offer ahead of the Games.
The Springbrook project arrives with its own local sensitivities. A proposed cableway in the area had still been under investigation by the council by late 2025, and the idea has drawn concern from environmental protection groups and locals worried about the impact on the landscape around the national park.
Taylor said the development was designed to fit that setting rather than fight it. “We’re combining really immersive nature-based tourism accommodation with exciting adventure activities from guided bushwalking tours to abseiling to mountain biking, and many more,” he said, describing a package aimed at visitors who want a longer stay and more than a single attraction.
For the state, the funding marks another step in an Olympics-era tourism strategy that is trying to seed projects now so they are operating before 2032. For Parkwood and Springbrook, it means two very different bets on the same question: whether Queensland can turn outdoor recreation into a lasting draw, and whether locals will accept the change that comes with it.
