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Sydney Morning Herald
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Brisbane's abandoned 2032 Olympic Games
Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Crisafulli was not the only premier to ignore the advice of a review he commissioned. Then-premier Steven Miles was widely criticised last year when he rejected the Quirk review's recommendation to build an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park and chose instead to host the Games' marquee events at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, formerly QEII Stadium. QSAC, which hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, would have been demolished to make way for a permanent, 14,000-seat athletics facility. Loading During the Olympics, temporary seating would have increased the capacity to 40,000 – the smallest Olympic stadium since Amsterdam 1928. All up, the project would have cost $1.6 billion – and that was before public transport improvements, which Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said would cost about $400 million, were factored in. The QSAC gambit received even more criticism last July, when this masthead revealed preliminary designs via a photocopied black-and-white image obtained via an earlier RTI application. Now, the high-resolution version can be revealed, along with a less fully formed concept that included a roof over all stands. The concepts are now moot, with Crisafulli accepting GIICA's recommendation that a stadium be built at Victoria Park, despite a pre-election promise that no new stadiums would be built for the Games. Crisafulli told the Property Council lunch on Tuesday that retaining QSAC would have been the 'politically convenient' choice for his new government. 'There is no way in God's name that to go and spend a bucketload of money on temporary stands at that venue would either be a legacy play, nor would it make us look like a grown-up, mature city when the eyes of the world are on us,' he said. 'So I took the decision that I would wear the political heat for it. I owned it and I have been genuinely heartened by people who have absorbed why the decision was taken.' The Miles government had planned to upgrade Suncorp Stadium ahead of Brisbane 2032 as the host venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. According to renders captured in this masthead's RTI request, those upgrades would not dramatically change the 52,500-seat venue, which was largely rebuilt more than 20 years ago. The upper corners would have been filled in with new screens, while a giant screen would have been installed overlooking the Caxton Street plaza outside the stadium. But while Suncorp Stadium upgrades no longer feature in the government's 2032 delivery plan, the upgrades could still be on the table. 'Suncorp Stadium is a world-class stadium, and we're not going to let it wither on the vine ahead of 2032,' Crisafulli said when he unveiled the Games delivery plan in March. 'It will continue to be a world-class stadium and we will invest in it.' Indoor Sports Centres Chandler's old outdoor velodrome was set to make way for an indoor sports centre as part of a $257 million overhaul of the erstwhile Commonwealth Games precinct before the 2032 Olympics. But the GIICA review found space constraints on the site would have added 'significant cost' to the project. 'While there is a strong legacy argument for developing an indoor sports centre at Chandler Sport Precinct, this is not an operationally viable option for Games time,' the GIICA report found. The planned Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, near the outdoor stadium at Kawana, has been scrapped in favour of the planned Horizon Centre at Maroochydore. It was a reversal of a 2023 Palaszczuk government decision to go with the Kawana sports precinct, which would have been under construction this year. The proposal had the support of then-Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson and local sporting groups.
The Age
20-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Brisbane's abandoned 2032 Olympic Games
Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre Crisafulli was not the only premier to ignore the advice of a review he commissioned. Then-premier Steven Miles was widely criticised last year when he rejected the Quirk review's recommendation to build an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park and chose instead to host the Games' marquee events at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, formerly QEII Stadium. QSAC, which hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, would have been demolished to make way for a permanent, 14,000-seat athletics facility. Loading During the Olympics, temporary seating would have increased the capacity to 40,000 – the smallest Olympic stadium since Amsterdam 1928. All up, the project would have cost $1.6 billion – and that was before public transport improvements, which Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said would cost about $400 million, were factored in. The QSAC gambit received even more criticism last July, when this masthead revealed preliminary designs via a photocopied black-and-white image obtained via an earlier RTI application. Now, the high-resolution version can be revealed, along with a less fully formed concept that included a roof over all stands. The concepts are now moot, with Crisafulli accepting GIICA's recommendation that a stadium be built at Victoria Park, despite a pre-election promise that no new stadiums would be built for the Games. Crisafulli told the Property Council lunch on Tuesday that retaining QSAC would have been the 'politically convenient' choice for his new government. 'There is no way in God's name that to go and spend a bucketload of money on temporary stands at that venue would either be a legacy play, nor would it make us look like a grown-up, mature city when the eyes of the world are on us,' he said. 'So I took the decision that I would wear the political heat for it. I owned it and I have been genuinely heartened by people who have absorbed why the decision was taken.' The Miles government had planned to upgrade Suncorp Stadium ahead of Brisbane 2032 as the host venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. According to renders captured in this masthead's RTI request, those upgrades would not dramatically change the 52,500-seat venue, which was largely rebuilt more than 20 years ago. The upper corners would have been filled in with new screens, while a giant screen would have been installed overlooking the Caxton Street plaza outside the stadium. But while Suncorp Stadium upgrades no longer feature in the government's 2032 delivery plan, the upgrades could still be on the table. 'Suncorp Stadium is a world-class stadium, and we're not going to let it wither on the vine ahead of 2032,' Crisafulli said when he unveiled the Games delivery plan in March. 'It will continue to be a world-class stadium and we will invest in it.' Indoor Sports Centres Chandler's old outdoor velodrome was set to make way for an indoor sports centre as part of a $257 million overhaul of the erstwhile Commonwealth Games precinct before the 2032 Olympics. But the GIICA review found space constraints on the site would have added 'significant cost' to the project. 'While there is a strong legacy argument for developing an indoor sports centre at Chandler Sport Precinct, this is not an operationally viable option for Games time,' the GIICA report found. The planned Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, near the outdoor stadium at Kawana, has been scrapped in favour of the planned Horizon Centre at Maroochydore. It was a reversal of a 2023 Palaszczuk government decision to go with the Kawana sports precinct, which would have been under construction this year. The proposal had the support of then-Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson and local sporting groups.
Sydney Morning Herald
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
IOC backs in Victoria Park, as Brisbane 2032 organisers remain hopeful for arena
Speaking at a Suncorp Stadium media conference to mark the end of the IOC visit, Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee president Andrew Liveris appeared confident the government's approach of attracting private funding would work. 'Now, what better site, right? That's a great precinct, and that'll be part of the legislation,' he said. Liveris said there was no doubt Brisbane needed a new inner-city arena, which would replace the ageing Entertainment Centre at Boondall. 'This is a city that's definitely grown up quite a lot, if I could use that term, but the absence of an arena or an entertainment complex was clearly being discussed at great length,' he said. Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee chief executive Cindy Hook also weighed in. 'I don't think we need that venue desperately for the Games, but gosh, if we add it and we've got some more options, I would love to see that,' she said. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie told parliament on Tuesday the private sector interest in building the arena had been 'exciting'. 'That is why we are hitting the ground running, opening the process today to hear from the private sector about their vision and what they can do in that area,' he said. Another deviation from GIICA's recommendations was the Crisafulli government's decision to hold Olympic rowing on the Fitzroy River. Rowing's governing bodies have expressed concerns the river's currents would not meet technical specifications. Dubi said the decision might ultimately be taken out of the government's hands. 'No one else than the federation can say 'field of play ready', but the collaboration is essential,' he said. '...We have full confidence about the onboarding of the international federation [World Rowing] and getting their views to make the plan great one.' For the visiting IOC officials, including president Thomas Bach, president-elect Kirsty Coventry and newly minted Brisbane 2032 Co-ordination Commission chair Mikaela 'Mikee' Cojuangco Jaworski, this week marked their first in-country meetings with the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee. Jaworski, who replaced the promoted Coventry in the role earlier this month, said it was a homecoming of sorts, having spent much of her life in Australia for equestrian events. Loading 'I would regularly – once a year – be living on the Brisbane Showgrounds when I was competing there,' she said. 'Little did I imagine that I'd be sitting here now and, just seven years away, it's going to be the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as the Athletes' Village.' Of the existing venues, Jaworski said she was most impressed by the Gold Coast – and hoped some of the new minor venues across the state would learn from its example. 'We were at Carrara yesterday and I couldn't help but marvel at how many people were using it, how many courts were available – it was so accessible, and the size of it was just something that I could imagine events being held there, the Games going on, there, people going through it,' she said. 'For me, the fact that it has local use and then will be used for the Olympic Games, allows me also to look forward into those that are being built, and seeing how they also have that same potential to be world-class and at the same time local.'
The Age
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The Age
IOC backs in Victoria Park, as Brisbane 2032 organisers remain hopeful for arena
Speaking at a Suncorp Stadium media conference to mark the end of the IOC visit, Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee president Andrew Liveris appeared confident the government's approach of attracting private funding would work. 'Now, what better site, right? That's a great precinct, and that'll be part of the legislation,' he said. Liveris said there was no doubt Brisbane needed a new inner-city arena, which would replace the ageing Entertainment Centre at Boondall. 'This is a city that's definitely grown up quite a lot, if I could use that term, but the absence of an arena or an entertainment complex was clearly being discussed at great length,' he said. Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee chief executive Cindy Hook also weighed in. 'I don't think we need that venue desperately for the Games, but gosh, if we add it and we've got some more options, I would love to see that,' she said. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie told parliament on Tuesday the private sector interest in building the arena had been 'exciting'. 'That is why we are hitting the ground running, opening the process today to hear from the private sector about their vision and what they can do in that area,' he said. Another deviation from GIICA's recommendations was the Crisafulli government's decision to hold Olympic rowing on the Fitzroy River. Rowing's governing bodies have expressed concerns the river's currents would not meet technical specifications. Dubi said the decision might ultimately be taken out of the government's hands. 'No one else than the federation can say 'field of play ready', but the collaboration is essential,' he said. '...We have full confidence about the onboarding of the international federation [World Rowing] and getting their views to make the plan great one.' For the visiting IOC officials, including president Thomas Bach, president-elect Kirsty Coventry and newly minted Brisbane 2032 Co-ordination Commission chair Mikaela 'Mikee' Cojuangco Jaworski, this week marked their first in-country meetings with the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee. Jaworski, who replaced the promoted Coventry in the role earlier this month, said it was a homecoming of sorts, having spent much of her life in Australia for equestrian events. Loading 'I would regularly – once a year – be living on the Brisbane Showgrounds when I was competing there,' she said. 'Little did I imagine that I'd be sitting here now and, just seven years away, it's going to be the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as the Athletes' Village.' Of the existing venues, Jaworski said she was most impressed by the Gold Coast – and hoped some of the new minor venues across the state would learn from its example. 'We were at Carrara yesterday and I couldn't help but marvel at how many people were using it, how many courts were available – it was so accessible, and the size of it was just something that I could imagine events being held there, the Games going on, there, people going through it,' she said. 'For me, the fact that it has local use and then will be used for the Olympic Games, allows me also to look forward into those that are being built, and seeing how they also have that same potential to be world-class and at the same time local.'
ABC News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Government to introduce bill that will override 15 planning laws for 2032 Olympic venues
All venues to be built for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the Victoria Park stadium, are set to be exempt from major planning rules. The Queensland government will introduce a bill to parliament today to give the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) power to override 15 planning laws. This includes the Environmental Protection Act, the Planning Act, the Queensland Heritage Act, the Local Government Act, and the Nature Conservation Act. The Queensland government plans to build a new stadium at Victoria Park for the 2032 Games. ( Supplied ) The government is making the move in a bid to ensure projects are not held up by potential legal challenges — with the laws to cover all venues and the athletes' villages. The proposed law changes will mean final planning sign-off for all Games venues will rest with the state government, rather than councils. A white-water stadium, to be created in the Redlands, will offer international-level events as well as recreation and training opportunities. ( Queensland Government ) Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie said the laws would empower GIICA to "get on with the job" of delivering the 2032 Games. He also promised "appropriate checks and balances". "With the largest infrastructure investment in Queensland's history, it's important there are clear pathways to delivery, with the appropriate oversight of government in the right places," he said. Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie promised the appropriate checks and balances would still happen. ( AAP: Darren England ) The government said GICCA will still have ministerial oversight and that all projects will need to be assessed by the Cabinet Budget Review Committee before they get funding. Games infrastructure will also be subject to building compliance laws. Save Victoria Park spokeswoman Rosemary O'Hagan described the move as "kill-all, draconian" legislation and a "slap in the face" for the community. Rosemary O'Hagan (right) has been advocating against the stadium plans for Victoria Park, describing the government's plan to override planning laws as "a slap in the face". ( Supplied ) "You have to actually question … what is so wrong with these developments that they're putting in for the Olympics that they have to remove so many legal safeguards to actually build them," she said. " What is the point of having heritage protection and environmental protection if you're just going to override it all? " Ms O'Hagan said Save Victoria Park remained committed to safeguarding the 64 hectares of green space. "This is too important to just roll over and let the bulldozers roll in," she said. There have been protests by locals opposed to plans to building the Victoria Park stadium. ( AAP: Jono Searle ) After Other major venues include a new national aquatic centre at Spring Hill with a 2032 Games seating capacity of 25,000. A 3,000-seat show court arena will also be built at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson. The state government has vowed to keep the Olympics infrastructure budget The Brisbane Tennis Centre will be updated for the 2032 event, within the multi-billion-dollar budget shared by state and federal governments. ( Supplied )
