$115,000 a seat: The big cost of a small stadium for Brisbane 2032

The $1.6 billion cost of redeveloping the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre would not be enough to get it ready to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a budget estimates committee has been told.

But Infrastructure Minister Grace Grace insisted any additional costs would not be borne by Queensland taxpayers.

Having abandoned a Gabba rebuild, and rejected a proposal for a new stadium, the Miles Labor government plans to use QSAC as Brisbane 2032’s athletics stadium. It would have 40,000 seats, most of which would be removed after the Games.

The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, formerly known as QEII Stadium.Credit: Google Earth

Under questioning from Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie on Wednesday, Grace said the $1.6 billion pricetag, which remained untested, did not include the temporary seating.

The stadium is being designed to have only 14,000 permanent seats.

“The IOC pays for the temporary seating,” Grace said, adding that the International Olympic Committee had a “significant budget” for temporary overlay at venues.

“They don’t want to leave stadiums that then need to be maintained.”

On current cost estimates, QSAC would come in at about $115,000 per seat. For comparison, the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium in Perth, completed in 2017 for $1.6 billion, cost about $26,650 a seat.

On Tuesday, this masthead revealed the first image of the proposed QSAC stadium at Nathan, about 10 kilometres south of Brisbane’s CBD.

Grace said “questions” had been raised over the need for a flat, concrete podium to underpin QSAC, which would account for $1 billion of the estimated cost. The other $600 million, she said, was the cost of replacing the current western grandstand.

In the hearing, Bleijie suggested to one bureaucrat “that the 1.6 [billion dollars] could be higher.”

Grace interjected: “It could be lower.”

Bleijie: “It could be higher.”

Grace: “It could be lower.”

Bleijie: “Well the Gabba was 1 billion and it went to 2.7, so based on this government’s record, I suspect it’s going to be a lot higher.”

The Graham Quirk-led Olympic review, conducted this year, noted the lack of space at QSAC and hilly ground would require a podium “at a significant height and cost”.

The review recommended a new stadium at Victoria Park, but Premier Steven Miles opted instead to redevelop QSAC in an attempt to save money.

“To be frank, no one tried harder than I did to convince people that the Gabba was a good idea,” Miles said during a Wednesday media conference at Mount Gravatt, just a couple of kilometres from QSAC.

“[But] it was clear to me, from talking to Queenslanders, that they did not think that was a good use of money.”

Miles accused the LNP - which has promised a 100-day review of venues if it wins October’s state election - of undermining the Games.

Meanwhile, expressions of interest have been called from firms to lead the construction and design of the 6000-seat, $142 million Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre.

Render of the Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, to be built at Kawana.Credit: Queensland Government

The venue is slated to host preliminary basketball rounds during Brisbane 2032, with construction to begin late 2025.