‘New norm’ Olympic bid gives southeast Queensland chance of cheap and cheerful Games

THE cost of a southeast Queensland Olympic Games would be closer to zero than the multibillion-dollars of previous Games, a consultant working on a 2032 bid says.

The official track cycling venue for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games opened at Chandler. Picture: Liam Kidston

THE cost of a southeast Queensland Olympic Games would be closer to zero than the multibillion-dollars of previous Games, a consultant working on a 2032 bid says.

Sports consultant Craig McLatchey is working on a feasibility study for the South East Queensland Council of Mayors. Picture: Brett Faulkner

Craig McLatchey, who is working on a feasibility study for the South East Queensland Council of Mayors, said the net cost of a Queensland Olympics would be a fraction of the more than $26 billion currently being quoted for Tokyo 2020.

“No one wants to spend $17 billion or, as was quoted recently, $26 billion on an Olympic Games,” the sports consultant based in the Olympic capital Lausanne, Switzerland, said.

“What the IOC is saying is we don’t want you to build anything that you wouldn’t build anyway and we certainly don’t want you to build something that you have already got nearby.

“The operating cost of the Games now would be closer to zero then it would be to $26 billion.”

That would also hinge on the state and federal governments keeping pace with planned bus, rail and road infrastructure spending in the southeast.

SEQ Council of Mayors chairman and Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, has previously said a cost-price games could be achieved using existing and temporary venues around Queensland to keep costs to a minimum while ensuring maximum benefit is returned to the region.

The SEQ mayors are awaiting the feasibility study before deciding whether to continue with a potential 2032 bid.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk appears to be firming in her support for a formal bid for a “cut price” Games.

She visited Olympic venues in Tokyo and met with Japan’s Olympics minister last month.

Tourism Minister Kate Jones has also met with Olympics bosses who confirmed that they wanted to change the model going forward.

A Queensland bid has already received in-principle support from the Australian Olympic Committee.

Mr McLatchey said the “new norm” being encouraged by the IOC was to ensure the future of the Olympic Games and meant bidders could be more creative in the way they hosted the Games.

Many of the costly venue sites for the Rio Olympics have been abandoned. The IOC is changing its model for future bids. Picture: Getty

He said events could be held interstate as well as across the southeast and in north Queensland.

Mr McLatchey would not put a firm figure on the potential operating cost or the cost of the infrastructure needed.

The feasibility study will be delivered to the Southeast Queensland Council of Mayors later this year.

Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland said he would only support a 2032 bid if it was viable, affordable and all three levels of government were involved.