The South Australian Premier has given strong advice to both Queensland and Tasmania

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has seen first-hand what the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval had on the capital, which is why he’s encouraged Tasmania and Queensland to invest in the stadiums in their states.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 03: The Hon Peter Malinauskis MP,Premier of South Australia speaks to media during a 2024 AFL Gather Round Media Opportunity at the Adelaide Oval on April 03, 2024 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

As the Queensland and Tasmanian governments wrestle with sports stadium decisions, the advice from South Australia about the impact of their big stadium gamble couldn’t be clearer.

“What it’s done to our city, it’s revitalised it,” SA Premier Peter Malinauskas told this masthead.

Adelaide Oval is the crown jewel of this week’s Gather Round, yet Malinauskas says the stadium redevelopment that was fully completed in 2014 has provided so much more.

“It’s done a lot for the city, there is no doubt about it. Before the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval, we had footy being played in a location that was difficult for local fans and unappealing to interstate fans. And so, the economics of Adelaide Oval have worked out beautifully,” he said.

The Queensland government have snuffed out hopes of a world-class Olympic stadium for 2032 because of budgetary concerns, while the Tasmanian government will walk a political tightrope to get its new stadium - the condition for the newly launched Tasmania team’s entry into the AFL - over the line.

Renders of the Gabba Stadium ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Picture: Queensland Government

The Queensland example is the most controversial nationally, with the state government having ditched its initial plans to redevelop the Gabba, and then similarly binned the independent advice to build a new stadium at Victoria Park.

There are fears that a ‘cut-price Olympics’ with a temporarily upgraded QSAC athletics venue could be an embarrassment. Olympic and Athletics broadcast doyen Bruce McAvaney told SEN radio on Thursday that QSAC “is a tricky place to get to, feels a bit soulless and 40,000 (crowd capacity) is not enough for athletics at the Olympics ... I’m not particularly happy about that result.”

The Victoria Park proposal has parallels with the Adelaide example of a sports stadium opening up a gateway to the CBD. Malinauskas notes that, like Brisbane, there was not unanimous public and political support before the Adelaide Oval build.

A concept image of Hobart's proposed stadium at Macquarie Point. Picture: AFL

“There were critics about the investment before it happened,” he says.

“But after it was done, with the old scoreboard and the heritage elements with the fig tree, there’s barely a South Australian at the moment that wouldn’t say they love it.

“All those critics were silenced pretty quickly, in fact they were silenced within weeks of the first event taking place.”

Malinauskas acknowledges that the $500 million investment back then was significantly smaller than the projected $2.7-3.4 billion options that have been knocked back for the Brisbane Olympics, but that similar arguments were put forward against the plan.

“The cost of the infrastructure investment was far smaller in 2014 than what it is today, so I think we’re fortunate in that regard.

“But there is no doubt that it’s been a public policy success for the city and the state.”

Originally published as The South Australian Premier has given strong advice to both Queensland and Tasmania