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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡
In Australia’s Queensland state legislature, the Labor Party holds 51 seats, the Liberal National Party has 35 and the remaining seven seats are spread across three small parties and on 26 October, elections will be held.
So with the 2032 Olympic Games being held in Brisbane and other cities in Queensland, the continuing question of what to do about a “main stadium” continue to be discussed, and is now fully engulfed in election politics.
Liberal National Party leader David Crusafulli wails that Premier Steven Miles (Labor) made the wrong decision by backing away from an A$2.7 billion renovation of the famed Brisbane Cricket Ground (the Gabba) or building a new, A$3.4 billion stadium in another location suggested by a government commission. Instead, Miles wants to upgrade the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre as a permanent legacy. (A$1 = $0.68 U.S.)
Says Crisafulli:
“I think the premier regrets saying it because he knows it’s not the right option and he knows that Queenslanders don’t back it. QSAC is not the right venue. I haven’t met a Queenslander who thinks that’s either visionary or value for money, other than Steven.
“I don’t think there’s any scenario where any Queenslander looks at that plan and doesn’t see anything but cringeworthiness from a desperate government.”
Labor sees it differently, of course. State Development and Infrastructure Minister Grace Grace ripped Crisafulli for continuously changing his position:
“First he supported upgrades to the Gabba, now he says he never did. He said he backed Labor’s plan for a lower cost to taxpayers, with the legacy option of upgrading QSAC, yet now he’s backflipped again.
“We know the LNP is refusing to support QSAC because they’re secretly planning to spend $3.4 billion-plus on a new build stadium at Victoria Park. The only cringeworthy thing is the LNP hiding behind a 100-day Games review.”
In the middle are the Brisbane 2032 organizers, headed by for worldwide Dow Chemical head Andrew Liveris. He told reporters last week after returning from the Paris 2024 Games:
“We’ve been very, very clear. I’ve been very, very clear that until we see numbers on QSAC there is no position Brisbane 2032 is taking.
“We need to know the cost aspect of what would be an athletic stadium. In terms of the Olympics and the delivery, we’re committed to a budget – $5 billion – and we’ve got to get that budget right.
“You just have to be in the [Paris] Stade de France, watching the sevens rugby with 80,000 people providing revenue and top sponsors providing revenue, to understand the power of having a right-sized stadium.”
“We have 2,865 days to get this right. Paris were still deciding on venues 600 days out. Los Angeles still hasn’t finalised many of their venues for many of their sports.
“So, please don’t panic. We’ve got this.”
A current review of the suitability of the QSAC facility is coming, but will not be completed until the second quarter of 2025.
Liveris noted that the real issue for the Gabba is the long-term future of cricket and rugby in Brisbane: “If you don’t have a decent stadium, okay, for legacy reasons, where are you going to put the cricket on?” adding “The Olympics can’t take the lead there.”
He explained that once the leadership of the area’s cricket and rugby teams was clear, “then we will fold right in and support you.”
In the meantime, it’s all politics until 26 October.
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