A $1 billion funding promise from the Commonwealth to add extra lanes to the M1 on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane’s south has been dismissed as “pretty modest” by the state government, which doesn’t want to match the funding.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the Gold Coast on Tuesday to announce funding to help get commuters home “sooner and safer”.

“There have been missing links in this great freeway here that have needed to be done for a long time, and now the money is there,” he said.

Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher said there are two “substantial” projects.

“One is between Varsity Lakes and Tugun at the Gold Coast end to upgrade the motorway to six lanes, three lanes in each direction and also some other components such as ramp upgrades,” Mr Fletcher said.

“The other project that we will support with this billion-dollar commitment is Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill … a very, very busy part of the motorway.

“And that would provide for widening the motorway from six lanes to eight lanes and also some other elements such as extending the busway to Springwood.”

The state government wants the Commonwealth to fund 80 per cent of the upgrades, not 50. Photo: AAP

But Queensland Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said what the federal government is offering was not good enough.

“They [the federal government] spend 80 per cent on funding on the M1 across the border in New South Wales and Brisbane and yet here they are offering the Gold Coast a half price offer,” he said.

“A billion dollars here given the problems on the M1, it’s a pretty modest commitment.”

The Prime Minister would not say whether the projects would be rolled out if the Queensland government refused to match the funding.

“The last thing Queenslanders want us to do is to get into an argument about who pays what … they want their governments to get on and build things,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Historically, the practice has always been with both LNP and Labor governments, on both federal and state [levels], for the funding on the M1 to be 50-50.

“Queensland has the resources, it has the responsibility – this is Queensland’s road, after all.”

Mr Bailey said he wants all of the $1 billion spent upgrading the motorway from Varsity Lakes to Tugun.

Mr Bailey says he only found out about the offer when he read about it in the newspaper. Photo: ABC

“It’s enough to get the section done if they contribute 80 per cent,” he said.

“I think that should be the next priority and that is the most advanced in terms of the business case and the planning.”

He said the federal government can fund the Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill section later, when planning is finished.

Mr Bailey said the federal government is yet to contact him about the money.

“Instead I read about it in the newspaper like everyone else,” he said.

Gold Coast MP and Federal Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said the federal government did not need to alert Mr Bailey about the funding announcement ahead of time.

“What Mark Bailey should be doing instead of acting like a spoilt prat is welcoming this a billion dollars the federal government has put on the table and saying the state government is going to step up,” he said.

RACQ spokesman Paul Turner agreed the federal government should be putting up 80 per cent of the cost.

“We do believe it’s part of the national highway network and therefore should be included just as the Bruce Highway or the Pacific Highway in New South Wales are,” he said.

But Mr Turner said getting started on the motorway works should be the priority and the two governments needed to work together to make that happen.

–ABC