Editorial: Forget the Gabba, this is what matters

If Australian athletes do not win a bucket of medals at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics then it will not matter whether the venues were amazing, writes the editor.

An Urbis concept of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games

If Australian athletes do not win a bucket of medals at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics then it will not matter whether the venues were amazing – the Games will be considered a failure by the Australian public.

That is why, for all the political debate over public spending on the venues there must be an equally robust discussion about the plans we have in place to identify and develop the very best athletic talent over the next eight years.

The calls we report on today for Premier Steven Miles to remove the Queensland Academy of Sport from the strangling bureaucracy of a government department are a perfect example of that.

It does not take a genius to join the dots between the unexpected resignation late last month of the academy’s chief executive and renowned “Gold Medal Maker” Chelsea Warr and these calls, put forward by a high-powered group that includes former QAS chair Renita Garard, who stood down from that role at the same time as Ms Warr’s shock departure.

For some historic reason, the state’s Academy of Sport is housed within the Department of Tourism and Sport that is currently led by former Northern Territory bureaucrat Andrew Hopper.

That, according to the group calling for change, means the academy is hamstrung by multiple layers of bureaucracy and wasted spending – a situation, they say, that threatens to derail our Gameschances for reasons, including that such a stifling environment will inevitably lead to the world’s best coaches and other high-performance sport practitioners looking elsewhere for a job.

As Dr Garard says, in a stark warning Mr Miles must surely take seriously: “The detraction for world-leading practitioners is joining an organisation where they are working beneath multiple layers of bureaucracy, and where structural changes can be made, which introduces absolutely unnecessary inefficiencies and derails progress.”

That is, the model undermines the chances of us developing the 2032 equivalents of Cathy, Susie and Thorpey – the athletes who gifted us such cherished memories from the Sydney 2000 Games.

Rugby league coaching legend Wayne Bennett is someone who knows about getting the most of young athletic talent. He warns: “Elite sport cannot run with severe government constraints. I know in coaching where I have just been able to do my job it works; anywhere I have gone where people prevent me from doing my job it just gets very hard.’’

Premier Miles is due to meet on Tuesday with Ms Garard as part of a delegation of experienced sports administrators, including the respected and influential QAS founder Wilma Shakespear.

They will ask Mr Miles to not only decouple the academy from Mr Hopper’s oversight, but also commit to a new governance model where an independent skills-based board reports to a minister rather than a bureaucrat.

They say this is the only way to ensure as much as possible of every dollar is used to support athletes, rather than “wasting funding on unnecessary bureaucracy”.

We do not know whether these concerns were behind Ms Warr’s unexpected departure. But we do know that not having her at the helm will hurt Queensland’s medal chances at our 2032 home Games.

A Queenslander, Ms Warr took UK Sport from when the British Olympic team won a single gold medal in 1996 to its domination in its home Games in London in 2012, and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Her talent identification program there is legend among high-performance practitioners worldwide – and she was one year into a local version called You For 2032 when she and Mr Hopper had that fateful chat.

As the current custodian of the 2032 Games, Premier Miles surely must act. Our hopes demand it.

GREENS MAKE A SPLASH

The winding Brisbane River – or brown snake as it is often dubbed – is an iconic image of Queensland’s capital city.

But despite being marketed as the “River City” the Brisbane River is not a safe or inviting place to swim, even in the sweltering summer heat.

Now an ambitious – albeit expensive – plan from Greens Lord Mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan is looking to change that.

His multimillion-dollar vision involves improving water quality and cleanliness so people could swim in it when the Olympics arrive.

“It definitely is a bold and ambitious vision, but it’s also entirely achievable. What we’re talking about is starting the process and really saying to Brisbane residents: ‘Let’s dream a little bigger’,” Mr Sriranganathan said yesterday.

The Greens often make some crazy and often downright stupid proposals but, while this one is certainly far-fetched, it does have appeal.

The river is never going to be a crystal blue swimming haven but the idea of making it more accessible to the people of Brisbane is definitely worth investigation.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here