Brisbane Olympics: Queensland leaders slam Sydney Opera House suggestion

The world could be beamed images of Sydney rather than Brisbane to promote the 2032 Games in a move which has been slammed by Queensland’s leaders.

The Sydney Opera House could be used to promote Brisbane's Olympics in a move that's sure to outrage Queensland when the State has its own icons such as Robert Irwin, Jacob Elordi, Mick Fanning and even Bluey.

The Sydney Opera House could be used to promote Brisbane’s Olympics when the curtain falls at the Los Angeles Games.

With the clock is ticking toward the closing ceremony of the 2028 LA Olympics, where the river city receives the baton and performs for a global audience of millions of people, Brisbane Organising Committee for the Olympic Games President Andrew Liveris told The Sunday Mail classic Australian iconography was “key”.

“You go out and get all the best ideas, you land the ideas, you start figuring out this piece, that piece, create the mosaic and that’ll give us the answer,” he said.

“You want Australia to be present so the iconography is key.

“We’ll show off Australia, okay, we’ll show off Australia and that might mean the Opera House.”

But a number of pivotal Queensland figures have slammed the idea, with Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Craig Davidson said “there was no way” the 2032 Olympics should be promoted using anything other than our own state’s images and stories.

“It’s definitely time to showcase Brisbane and Queensland to the world,” he said.

“It’s got to the river and the city and even some of the local attractions like Moreton Island and Stradbroke Island.

“It would be a huge opportunity lost if we were showcasing anything other than Queensland.”

Committee for Brisbane CEO Jen Williams said it would be “incredibly disappointing” if images of interstate icons were used to showcase our own turn in the Olympic spotlight.

“This is the first chance to put the imagery of Queensland on the global stage and Brisbane is the most “Australian” of all our cities,” she said.

“We have all of the things that encapsulate Australia right here.

Exploring the reef with a snorkelling session in the Whitsundays.

“There’s no need to show icons from other states when we have in our own state such great imagery such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Story Bridge, the Brisbane River, Tangalooma.

“It would be incredibly disappointing if we weren’t using that opportunity to show the world our own part of Australia.”

Brisbane Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner said Sydney had already had its turn and now it was “Brisbane’s time to shine”.

“Brisbane has the chance to surprise and captivate the world in 2032 just like Barcelona did in 1992,” he said.

“I’m confident the world will be looking beyond Sydney to Brisbane when LA passes the baton in three years’ time.

Whale watching off the Gold Coast is an iconic Queensland image. Photo from Whales in Paradise.

“Brisbane’s beauty runs from South Bank and Kangaroo Point Cliffs to Howard Smith Wharves and Fortitude Valley.

“Our beaches on Moreton Island are pristine and unforgettable.

“We’ve still got three years until the LA Games and Brisbane’s global profile continues to grow every day.

“The world won’t just want to watch a video about Brisbane in 2028, they’ll be lining up to experience it for themselves.”

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli shared the same sentiment: “I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said on using the Opera House to advertise the 2032 Games.

“I think Queensland has got enough that we can celebrate without having to look over the border. I don’t see a Great Barrier Reef in Sydney. I don’t see magic Outback sunsets in Sydney,” he said.

“So no, we don’t need to use the Sydney Harbour. But what we can do is we can put a picture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge up and say that was the best Olympic and Paralympic games until 2032. We can do that for them,” he said.

The iconic Story Bridge in Brisbane. Picture Supplied by Brisbane City Council

Mr Crisafulli said NSW “had your crack”.

“It’s time for the best state to put on the best games. But congratulations, your opera house is beautiful, and you can use that image in your promotion, and we’ll use the many, many other things that we have that are far better than that.”

In Paris, the handover to Los Angeles involved Tom Cruise leaping from the Stade de France roof before the Olympic flag travelled across the Atlantic Ocean towards Red Hot Chili Peppers’ at Venice Beach.

While at Atlanta in 1996 Sydney organisers used surf lifesavers, Aboriginals, bouncing kangaroos and sails forming a silhouette of the Opera House as a taste of what the world could expect down under.

The Atlanta Kangaroo bikes.

“I don’t want just the normal things that people expect like a koala or a kangaroo and a didgeridoo,” Mr Liveris said.

“I want our creative cultural image to go out there.”

But he said the kitsch images of Australia would likely form a part of Brisbane’s step onto the world stage.

He said he had “begun a lot of outreach to all the usual names and all the usual suspects” as his attention had turned to how Brisbane would announce itself to the world on July 30, 2028.

“Paris actually set up a creative team that absolutely was separate to the sports team and so that’s a different skill set,” he said.

Hamilton Island

“(Committee CEO Cindy Hook) and I are talking about it and we’ll be recruiting the next six months, 12 months for people who actually will run that.”

Brisbane Economic Development Agency CEO Anthony Ryan said the 2032 Games was a chance to tell the state’s own story.

“South East Queensland is full of creativity, culture and natural beauty and the handover ceremony in 2028 is a chance to tell a story about who we are as a region,” he said.

“From snorkelling the Tangalooma Wrecks and watching whales breach off the coastline to sunset cocktails at Howard Smith Wharves and sunrises from the Kangaroo Point cliffs, South East Queensland offers must do moments at every turn.

“With our unique mix of lifestyle, landscape and local spirit, Brisbane will be an unforgettable host destination in 2032.”

Mick Fanning was born in NSW but became an iconic surfer on the Gold Coast

Former Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind, a professor of practice at Griffith University’s Institute for Tourism, said “this is our chance” to show more of Australia than the traditional icons and clichés.

“The Opera House has to wait its turn again,” he said, before also pointing to the potential of our own Brown Snake, aka the Brisbane River.

“To me, we have to show the flow of the Brisbane River.

“From South Bank with the spectacular swimming lagoon to the city skyline and then out to the bay and the islands and the whales and dolphins and dugongs.

“This is our chance to showcase our own beauty.”

- additional reporting by Rose Innes