Kylie Lang: Games farce proof our leaders only care about the election

Steven Miles has made us a laughing stock on the world stage, and his opposite number has hardly inspired, writes Kylie Lang.

The answer to ending this embarrassing stadium farce is not to cancel the Games but to man up and do them right.

I’m developing neck pain from all the cringing I’ve done lately, watching Steven Miles make Queensland a laughing stock on the national and international stage.

Admittedly, he was served a you-know-what sandwich by his predecessor, who did zip to progress the Games beyond endorsing them as part of her penchant for fame.

Annastacia Palaszczuk appointed herself minister for the Olympics (and Paralympics after one of her advisers finally got the message across that it was in her best interests) then refused to set up an independent governing body – the only proven and responsible way to deliver positive and objective outcomes.

Labor has wasted three years since the International Olympic Committee conferred the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Brisbane – and even more time is going begging as dithering gives way to seriously bad decisions.

Premier Steven Miles has made Queensland a laughing stock on the world stage. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

I understand why some fed-up Queenslanders are calling for the whole thing to be scrapped.

It has descended into pathetic political scrapping as Mr Miles desperately tries to keep his lot in power after October 2024.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has hardly inspired by appearing to follow the same narrow path and ruling out the building of any new stadia. Perhaps he thinks it’s better to be beige than fire engine red on an issue that is dividing many people.

Both leaders are acting for short-term gain at the enormous expense of long-term gain, not only for the city of Brisbane but also for other Queenslanders and visitors to our capital.

But ditching the Games is defeatist and would squander the myriad great opportunities this marquee event affords.

The independent review that followed Ms Palaszczuk’s overdue exit gave us hope of a sensible way forward, but hope was dashed – along with the $450,000 of our taxes that funded it – when Mr Miles ignored its findings.

Ignored them. And yet he waxes lyrical about not wasting our money because he feels our pain, there’s a cost of living crisis going on, folks.

Queensland Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

This week Mr Miles used the crisis as a lame excuse for snubbing the Quirk review’s intelligent idea to build a state-of-the-art stadium at Victoria Park.

By any calculations and with even the slightest bit of big-picture thinking, this stadium represents the best value for money.

Yet Mr Miles will not look past the next seven months so what’s best for the state in eight years and beyond doesn’t interest him.

“Queenslanders are struggling with housing and other costs”, he said on Monday, and “I cannot justify to them spending $3.4bn on a new stadium”.

Premier, helping people now and building for the future are not mutually exclusive.

Both can be achieved with prudent fiscal management and innovative thinking.

Both leaders have rejected the popular Victoria Park plan for short-term gain. Picture supplied by ARCHIPELAGO

As for this $3.4bn, don’t expect it to be tipped into building homes, increasing the rental rebate, slashing electricity bills and helping people afford fruit and vegetables again.

That money will be eaten up by tarting up tired old sporting venues strewn across the city – the very thing the Quirk review warned against.

Mr Quirk, who is no goose and led Brisbane as mayor for eight years, said the Gabba was in “poor condition” and a full rebuild would cost $3bn (plus $185-$360m in displacement costs for AFL and cricket) yet still not deliver an “international standard stadium”.

As for the QSAC, it would cost $1.6bn to take it from the showpiece it was – in 1982 when Matilda winked and we all thought it was grand – to a 40,000-seat venue, minuscule by world standards and with “very limited broad community legacy”.

Oh, and there’s the small matter of transport – specifically, the lack of it – and the location 10km from the CBD is next to a forest that is home to koalas and would need to be bulldozed.

God, can it get any worse?

Former Olympian Sally Pearson is among many athletes who’ve decried the Miles government’s approach as “not good enough”.

“We have to put on a great show, we have to be big and bold,” she said.

Exactly. Instead, all we’re excelling at currently is looking like complete fools. Cultural cringe? It’s thriving.

Now excuse me while I duck to the physio to see about my neck.

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The [e-mail]