Opinion: Brisbane’s Olympic bid is affordable – we must go for it
If Brisbane is serious about becoming a world-class city and a tourism powerhouse, an Olympics bid is not only sensible, but our political leaders would be abrogating their responsibilities if they let this slip, writes Peter Gleeson
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IT’S July, 2032, and the contrast with the Queensland we know today is significant. The second M1 between the Gold Coast and Brisbane has reduced the trip to just 45 minutes, with Autobahn-type speed limits allowing cars to do 160km/h. The Cross-River rail has revolutionised public transport in Brisbane and the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics now kick off the NBA season, with an opening game at the Brisbane Live super stadium at Roma St, which holds 19,000 spectators.
Premier seeks meeting with PM to lock in Brisbane Olympic bid
For the fourth year in a row, Queen’s Wharf was voted Australia’s best tourism precinct, hosting a daily food market that is the envy of the world. For the second year in a row, Brisbane has been named the world’s most liveable city. Direct flights between Brisbane and New York on the Qantas Dreamliner have opened up a visitor boom from the US and the cruise ship industry now pumps $4 billion a year into the southeast Queensland economy. Cam Smith just notched up his 765th NRL game for the Melbourne Storm and the black-throated finch is in plague proportions in Central Queensland. (Jokes … I think).
And, what, perchance, has driven this extraordinary growth and infrastructure in southeast of Queensland? It’s Brisbane’s successful bid for the 2032 Olympics, hosting the greatest show on earth.
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates has made it clear that right now Queensland has a golden opportunity to clinch the 2032 Games. The stars are aligning. The International Olympic Committee will this week likely change the rules on how host cities are determined, Instead of an exhaustive, costly bidding process, the IOC – cognisant of a tightening global economy – wants to make it easier and less costly for bid cities.
Gone are the days of spending tens of millions of dollars on a bid only to get one vote, as Australia did for the 2022 World Cup soccer. At a Courier Mail-Sunday Mail lunch last week, he told of how the IOC had trimmed US$2.4 billion from Tokyo’s cost in 2020. Simply moving the sailing and rowing to an area outside Tokyo, a perfectly suitable location used for international aquatic events, saved US$800 million.
Coates believes the southeast Queensland bid could be virtually cost-neutral, with the right TV and corporate backing. For Queensland, the cost-benefit analysis is a no-brainer. If Brisbane is serious about becoming a world class city and a tourism powerhouse, an Olympics bid is not only sensible, but our political leaders would be abrogating their responsibilities as visionaries if they let this slip.
The long-term infrastructure, reputational and tourism benefit of hosting an Olympics cannot be understated. As Australia’s demographer-in-chief Bernard Salt said at the lunch, it is clear that Australia’s next Olympics bid must come from Brisbane, not a repeat of Sydney or Melbourne. With the US TV network contract and the IOC locked into a July schedule, Brisbane’s climate makes it the only capital city capable of hosting an Australian Olympics, certainly in the short to medium term.
Coates made it clear the 2032 winning bid could be announced next year, just before the Tokyo Olympics. Along with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Coates will travel to Switzerland later in the year to formally present the southeast Queensland bid.
IOC president Thomas Bach was on the Gold Coast last month and is said to be bullish about a southeast Queensland bid.
Our political and economic stability and safety record, plus a proven reputation to host major events (think Sydney 2000 and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018), have not been lost on the IOC.
Olympics 2032 Brisbane: Games would be great for growth
The key to the Brisbane bid lies in the support that must come from the entire community, not just from politicians and Olympic officials.
Recent surveys show 76 per cent of Australians favour an Olympic bid. There must be a concerted push from the business community. Sacrifices will have to be made and patience is essential as the key infrastructure is built. But Brisbane probably only has one shot in the locker. We should grasp it, run with it, and not die wondering.
JAIL ADANI PROTESTERS
Adani protesters should be jailed. No excuses, no leniency. If they can’t accept the umpire’s decision, they deserve the full force of the law. Green cultists have indicated they will continue to engage in civil disobedience at the Adani coal mine site, despite the Queensland Government last week approving the final hurdle, the groundwater management plan. This now paves the way for construction work to begin as early as today.
Australia cannot have a far Left movement that believes it can disrupt a project that has jumped through every legal and environmental hurdle. We already have one of those. It’s called the CFMEU, which is imploding because its leadership doesn’t want to play by the normal rules of society. Who’s for changing the rules now?
Did we expect anything different from the Leftist green movement? Greens Senator Larissa Waters and state MP Michael Berkman should go on the comedy circuit. With straight faces, they said publicly last week that the Palaszczuk Government had “politicised’’ the Adani approvals process. They said that after Labor’s poor showing at the federal election, the Palaszczuk Government had stepped in and ordered the mine be approved.
Did they also mention that the Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad and her Left wing Cabinet had also “politicised’’ the issue by stopping the mine before May 18? Of course not. Labor and the Greens were outmanoeuvred and outplayed on Adani. In the end, the people spoke. The anti-Adani movement should pack up and go home. Or, if they want to continue with their irresponsible shenanigans be thrown into prison to cool their heels. Given the choice, Queenslanders have opted for jobs and putting food on the table for their families over climate change nonsense.
MONEY’S ON KARL’S COMEBACK
Do the bookies know something we don’t? Karl Stefanovic has been installed $3 favourite by Sportsbet to come back as host of the Nine Network’s flagship breakfast show, Today. He’s at $5 to host Love Island.
My spies say Nine executives are doing “viewer research’’ on its highest paid star who has been put in the “cooler’’ for the first half of 2019 after he was axed from the show. With Today ratings at their lowest in more than a decade, Nine is testing the public’s mood on their biggest star, after viewers fellout of love with the larrikin when he divorced his ex-wife Cassandra.
It seems early findings show viewers are missing Stefanovic. Today’s former sports anchor Tim Gilbert has joined Sky News and Fox Sports, hosting rugby league, racing and business shows. He joins Jaynie Seal on the Sky couch for the weekend breakfast show on Sky, starting July. Another Stefanovic, Karl’s brother Peter, joins Laura Jayes soon to host the weekday breakfast show on Sky News. Peter also anchors Sky’s upcoming Lawyer X documentary.
SWITCHING THE PLAY TO POLITICS
It seems former rugby league star and now radio personality Ben Hannant wants to be a politician. His name is being bandied about as a possible candidate for preselection in the blue ribbon Liberal seat of Currumbin, after the retirement of Jann Stuckey. The favourite is barrister Christopher Crawford, with an impressive CV and Stuckey’s backing.
COMPO LOOPHOLE FRUSTRATES FARMERS
Ructions between energy companies and farmers continue in the latest round of compensation claims. The bone of contention is the law allowing energy companies onto the land to start activities as soon as they file Land Court proceedings. There’s a legal loophole which allows energy companies early access to the land, leaving the Court to determine compensation without an agreement in place.
LAMB TAKES A CHOP AT DEVELOPERS
THE widow at the centre of the Lamb House controversy, Joy Lamb, is no stranger to dealings with the Brisbane City Council.Veteran council watchers say she’s not afraid to provide feedback on development in the Kangaroo Point precinct.
“An enthusiastic letter writer,’’ was how one insider described Lamb’s approach to increasing development. Lamb has been ina spat with developer, car park owner and harness racing enthusiast, Kevin Seymour.
Rory Gibson reveals the one thing women should never do
I know we are in holiday mode, but if you don’t mind I’d like your opinion on an issue of great importance before we all clock off for the year.
Think outside box with Olympic bid
Today readers have their say on Queensland’s bid for the 2032 Olympic Games, the volcano tragedy in New Zealand and an inquiry into veterans’ suicide.