Editorial: It’s not just the Games, but the legacy they leave

The benefit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Brisbane goes well beyond the two weeks of the event in 2032, writes the editor.

The benefit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Brisbane goes well beyond the two weeks of the event in 2032, but to the legacy it will leave the city going forward.

This week has seen the announcement of the first non-venue legacy project in the Paralympic Centre of Excellence.

The project is the first of its kind and will be an international standard venue, a wheelchair and prosthetics workshop, and dedicated testing facilities.

This is the kind of inclusive project that will take the Olympics from a sporting event to a transformative one.

The Courier-Mail criticised Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk when she initially called herself Olympics Minister, not Minister for the Olympics and Paralympics.

But to give credit where credit is due, she and her government have taken a positive step here by partnering with the University of Queensland to design and build this facility.

Legacy needs to be at the crux of everything in the lead up to the 2032 Games.

Olympian Susie O'Neill at the Legacy Forum on Wednesday. Picture: David Clark

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner rightly pointed out at Wednesday’s Brisbane 2032 Legacy Forum that as the state’s population booms, transport infrastructure needs to be front and centre.

The “new” Olympics model being pushed by the International Olympic Committee, which Brisbane signed up to, is focused on two key aspects: keeping costs down and legacy.

After cost blowouts to the $2.7bn Gabba Stadium revamp and building the new $2.5bn Brisbane Live venue, the city may be struggling to meet the first of those two aspects.

But there are good signs that progress is under way to build up the legacy.

Legacy is not all that needs to be built however.

It has been almost two years since Brisbane was announced as the host city, yet progress has been moving at a glacial pace.

While the Games are nine years away, there is a lot of work to be done. Yet it has taken until just recently for even a funding agreement to be reached between the state and federal government, and the governance model chosen leaves a lot to be desired in terms of transparency.

It is time to get moving so Brisbane and Queensland can deliver not only a world-class Games to be remembered and rival Sydney, but the long-lasting legacy which will live on in the region for decades after the event has concluded.

FORGOTTEN AND HURTING

The devastating wet season in the Gulf of Carpentaria has left the Burke and Doomadgee communities cut off from the rest of the country for three months, with food and supply drops having to be made by helicopter.

Since late December, floodwaters have cut off Doomadgee, while the Burke Shire joined it in separation from January in this year’s particularly relentless wet season.

It is a shocking situation which would never be tolerated in almost any other part of the country and is frankly not acceptable.

These are communities which are already isolated and disadvantaged, so to have the roads and airstrip underwater creates even further difficulties for them.

Doomadgee Mayor Troy Fraser put it well when he described their communities as “hidden” and his call for their towns to be treated the same as anywhere else is more than fair. The state and federal governments need to work together to help them out in this crisis.

Their ask is a smart one – money not just to clean up after this flood but to make sure the next one is not as bad.

Raising the bridges, creek crossings and airstrip will mean during the next wet season they won’t be cut off, or at least not for as long.

Fixing the stormwater and sewerage in Doomadgee is just the basic quality of life that any other Queenslander would expect.

The residents in the disaster-declared areas are able to access state and federal disaster payments, income support, emergency hardship payments and grants to repair or replace essential household contents.

But the scale of this event is unprecedented. Taking the time and money now to get this right will save money, time and most importantly lives in the long run.

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