Coalition pledge to go halves with Qld on Olympics ‘just a slogan’

Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says the Morrison Government’s pledge to split Olympics funding evenly with Queensland had “nothing that underpinned it”.

The former Coalition government’s promise to go halves with Queensland on the 2032 Olympic Games was “just a slogan,” according to Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this week said she expected the federal government to honour their commitment to jointly fund Olympics projects – including the Gabba – saying “funding commitments given to the IOC are funding commitments honoured”.

Her comments came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signalled the federal government was not bound by any signature on a dotted line, and would renegotiate its position with the state.

And Minister Gallagher has further cemented the federal government position with her comments at Budget estimates this week.

“The certainty was just a slogan, in a sense, because there was nothing that underpinned it,” she said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says the Coalition pledge to fund 50 per cent of the Brisbane Olympics in 2032 was “just a slogan”. Picture: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts head Jim Betts, in a separate budget estimates hearing on November 7, said the government had just started talking to the state about infrastructure.

“Rather than writing a blank cheque for 50 per cent of whatever the outcome is … we would like to have a discussion about what the infrastructure should be and what a worthwhile Commonwealth contribution should be.

“Those are the discussions which are just beginning to kick off now.”

The federal government’s October budget, in its statement of risks section, refers to the 2032 Olympic Games as an “unquantifiable contingent liability”.

This wording is different to the Coalition’s March budget which stated “The Australian Government has committed to fund half the costs of critical infrastructure for the Games. The support is subject to shared governance arrangements with the Queensland Government”.

Senator Gallagher said the new wording “truly reflects” the budget as it sits now, considering “there had been no provision at all made to back up that 50 per cent position”.

Ms Palaszczuk this week confirmed 2032 plans for the billion-dollar rebuild of Brisbane’s iconic Gabba stadium will be publicly released within weeks.

This despite the federal government’s refusal to say whether it will split the bill on the project.

New designs for the Gabba will be released within weeks, Ms Palaszczuk says.

Asked whether the government was reconsidering plans to “knock down” the stadium following Mr Albanese’s comments, Ms Palaszczuk said “no”.

“We are currently working on the finalisation of the Gabba redevelopment and we will be announcing those plans in the next couple of weeks or so,” she said.

“Funding commitments given to the IOC are funding commitments honoured. I have been very clear about this.”

Mr Albanese last week made reference to funding arrangements for the 2000 Olympics, saying “federal funding for the Sydney Olympics was nothing like 50-50, but we’ll discuss cooperatively with Queensland”.

The federal government funded about 8 per cent of the 2000 Olympics infrastructure costs, the remainder was funded by the NSW government.