Adrian Schrinner slams QSAC’s ‘notoriously bad’ mass transport options and says Games now ‘at crossroads’

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says a decision to upgrade QSAC would leave Brisbane with ‘two poor outcomes’.

• Opinion: Time to get on with it

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says the state government’s decision to upgrade QSAC for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games could leave the city with “two poor outcomes”.

The Lord Mayor said Brisbane City Council would work with the state government on whatever decision it made, but questioned whether the QSAC decision was the “right one”.

“The reality is they spend a billion dollars on the Gabba that is still not fit for purpose, still not upgraded and then QSAC is not really a replacement for the Gabba either, so we’ll be left with effectively two poor outcomes when it comes to stadiums when you could do it properly at Victoria Park,” he said.

Mr Schrinner said he would have personally backed building a brand-new stadium at the council-owned Victoria Park – but only if it could have been built for less than $3.4bn.

Lashing the state government for bungling the handling of the Brisbane 2032 Games venue plans, Mr Schrinner – who last year stepped down from the government’s Games forum – told The Courier-Mail the Olympics were “at a crossroads”.

“This whole situation could have been avoided had the state government done what it promised to begin with and hand the Games over to a proper independent authority to manage,” he said.

“But there’s no point lamenting past mistakes. We need to get the Games back on track.”

Newly re-elected Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says the Olympics are now at a “crossroads”. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Schrinner this morning told media that the “compelling case” for the Victoria Park recommendation outlined in Graham Quirk’s Olympic infrastructure review would require a land exchange between council and the state government to offset greenspace taken from the parkland.

He said if the government was to pursue Victoria Park, he would want the land taken up by the stadium to be offset by adjacent state-owned land parcels.

“My position is very clear that there should be no net loss of parkland in Brisbane, and that if any such proposal was to happen, it needs to be offset by additional land being added to parkland in Brisbane and particularly here in Victoria Park,” he said.

“At the moment, there’s major construction sites for Cross River Rail happening nearby that is state government land and... some of that land (could be) given to council to convert into parkland.

“Transport and Main Roads own some land just adjacent to Victoria Park, which we’d love to see added to Victoria Park. That’s a sizable parcel of land as well.”

Artist impressions of the proposed 55,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park. Picture: ARCHIPELAGO

The Lord Mayor said the “farcical” debate of venues, saying it risked damaging both the event and Brisbane’s international reputation – and said it was time to move on.

“We must now move past that and work together to deliver not just a great Games but a lasting transport legacy that benefits Queenslanders for generations to come. Let’s get on with it,” he said.