Northern regions in fight for Olympic funding ahead of Brisbane 2032 games

Our Northern regions are being urged to unite and fight for the leftovers after southeast Queensland gets the lion’s share of the funding in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.

Mayor Greg Williamson is fighting for some of the Olympic funding along with the rest of the Northern Region mayors as the state is set to bolster its sporting stocks ahead of the 2032 Olympics

The Northern regions will be left to fight for the ‘meagre scraps’ left after Brisbane and southeast Queensland gets the lion’s share of funding for the 2032 Olympics.

As the host city, Brisbane is set to get a massive chunk of the nearly $60 million allocated for infrastructure and facilities related to the Olympics over the next four years.

Surrounding parts of south east Queensland, including the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast will be the big winners.

The Queensland Government has promised a clear focus on regionals sport development but there is no specific funding mention for the Northern Regions.

In November, Council of Mayors met with the head of the Australian Olympic Committee who informed us they want to assist in the regions development, but have no funds to do so.

Insiders says with the carrot dangling we must now work together as a region to not only figure out how we want to develop sport, but also which contacts of the Olympic Committee we need to ‘leverage’ to do it.

Mayor Greg Williamson has been a huge advocate for sport in Mackay, now faced with the task of figuring how to capitalise on its development during this rare Olympic Games window Picture: Heidi Petith

According to Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson, the most important allocation can go to one of roughly five different facets of sporting development.

But he was unable to categorically outline just how Mackay can benefit.

At first it was infrastructure, and then it became the importance of coaching to keep athletes in towns, and then about narrowing in on one sport to become a hub of elite athletes.

For the AOC, they have outlined their most important spend in the assistance for funding will be pathway building, wanting to develop systems and platforms for young athletes to thrive within Queensland.

With this in mind, a city such as Mackay has its fair share of talent making it on the world stage, with the likes of Cathy Freeman, Liam Paro, Benita Willis, Linda Mckenzie and Geoff Heugill to name a few.

Cathy Freeman left Mackay at age 18 to further her running career, a situation which may be possible for more than just the top .1% with the right funding.

All of these talents in order to reach their full potential left regional Queensland to pursue bigger opportunities in the capital cities.

It is clear the intention is not to keep athletes forever in the regions, but more so to provide enough support and care at a junior level in order for more athletes to continue in sport rather than become a statistic in the rapid drop off rate from juniors to seniors.

With this in mind its hard to imagine how the development of junior pathways hasn't factored into the government's funding for the games, underscoring Mr Williamson’s description of us now fighting for the “meagre scraps” available.

According to Mr Williamson the AOC and the council of Governments intends to have their proposed plan for any funds organised at the beginning of next year, which will outline what we will target and who will assist in these development needs.

This now comes down to the region working together to help each other prosper in the best way possible, making this one of the biggest funding opportunities in recent years.