RNA Showgrounds’ new boutique stadium as Gabba rebuilt: What you said

Brisbane’s march towards the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games continues to cause a stir. JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Brisbane’s march towards the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games continues to cause a stir, with many Queenslanders seemingly against the latest plans.

A boutique stadium will be constructed at Brisbane’s inner-city RNA Showgrounds under a state government plan to host AFL and cricket fixtures while the Gabba is redeveloped for the Games.

The government has offered almost $50m towards the estimated $150m construction cost – but with Brisbane City Council, the RNA and the two affected sporting codes being asked to pay the remainder for the project.

The subject of where the Brisbane Lions would play between 2026 and at least 2030 while the Gabba was redeveloped has proved a contentious issue, with Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Steven Miles admitting a decision could still be months away.

But Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has revealed the state is willing to chip up to $45.7m for a permanent seating bowl below a temporary grandstand at Machinery Hill as part of a $137m main arena upgrade to also create a “lasting community legacy” to bring together the city and country – and offer somewhere for the country’s biggest codes to have fixtures during the redevelopment.

However news of the latest plan has caused a stir among readers.

Some insist it’s yet another looming cost blowout, while others claim there are better options.

Meanwhile some readers hope the problem lies with the Labor government.

Vote below, see what you had to say and join the conversation >>>

WHAT YOU SAID

There are other options!

Neil

Surely the QE2 is the way to go, it has a warm-up track, a main stadium both needing extensive refurbished.

Peter

Do something good with the Ernest Baynes Stand please. It’s looked ridiculous and cheap since they took off the top floor. Either rebuild the top floor, remodel it somehow or pull it down

Sky Ranger

According to research from Oxford University, every single Olympics since 1960 has gone over budget. Adjusted for inflation, the average overlay is 172%, more than any other category of mega-projects, including those that are notorious for going over budget like bridges, dams and roads. The 2032 Brisbane Olympics will be a mind-boggling financial calamity for Queensland Taxpayers.

Nigel

Let’s just join Melbourne and cancel the whole thing early …

New images of the Gabba Stadium ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Picture: Queensland Government.

What a joke

Alison

Low cost Olympics?

Michael

Yep. It just doesn’t stop. Get out now, while we still can.

Aussie

Gee – welcome to more melanomas / skin cancers with no adequate roof coverings! So much congestion around one of our biggest hospitals too! Parking? Safety issues around the streets of the valley if night games played? Just thinking aloud.

Allan

$150 mil for 20000 people $2.7 billion for 50000 Some how the numbers do not add up

HarryB

If they ‘must’ demolish the Gabba, why not throw a few million at QE11 instead of 150 million on a ‘boutique’ stadium? The powers that be amaze me with their illogical thinking.

An artist’s impression of the new boutique stadium at the RNA Showgrounds

Spend money elsewhere

Carmen

All this money going to build bigger and better stadiums, whilst children are being raised in cars, tents or wherever their Mum or Dad can find somewhere to stay. Why can’t the money be used to build public housing these homeless kids are our future and they deserve better.

Linda

From my perspective the Gabba stadium should be left alone. Do we build major infrastructure to last only 20 years nowadays? It’s only just been finished. Use QE2 stadium. Just give the Gabba a coat of paint and leave the school.

Danny

more taxpayers money wasted while our health system is in shambles and youth crime is out of control.

David

so we now have the money to demolish a stadium fix up and old one and build a new one? Got no money for health, housing, infrastructure etc

Regional Ranger

This Government is totally out of control. When will the cash splash end and who will be taxed to pay for it. Next years new Government will get the poison chalice and cancel many projects. Bye, Bye Anna.