Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has spoken to the ABC for the first time since journalists were kicked out of his press conference yesterday.

Councillor Tate said that event was to discuss a Four Corners story that probed links between councillors and developers on the Gold Coast.

Cr Tate said he planned to sue the ABC over that story, which was why the ABC's journalists were banned from the press conference, while other media were not.

"It is a specific issue and I wouldn't talk to the ABC about that issue, it wasn't about other matters," he said.

"As I have said my doors are always open and happy to discuss any matters with the ABC except the litigation."

Cr Tate was at an opening for a high-rise building at Surfers Paradise this morning when he spoke to the media.

A group of workers with the CFMEU union chanted slogans against the Mayor.

But Cr Tate said he was not upset.

"A lot of the workers said 'Good on you Tom'," he said.

"I think you [the ABC] must have selective hearing."

Tate defends cruise ship terminal

Cr Tate also spoke about a cruise ship terminal he proposed to build off the Southport Spit.

A large section of the feasibility study on the terminal was kept from the public until it was published by Four Corners this week.

The 56-page redacted section warned council that ships could be pushed onshore by heavy winds or waves and the project was unlikely to recoup the cost of construction within 30 years of operation.

But Cr Tate defended the nearly half-a-billion-dollar project, insisting the design was safe and it would be good for the regional economy.

"I don't know what book you have been reading," he told the ABC.

"The business case stacks up."

The project is still in a development stage.