Brisbane Olympics 2032: Sunshine Coast stakeholders, Ted O’Brien MP discuss potential taskforce

The 2032 Olympics is more than a decade away but the preparations have begun on the Sunshine Coast to ensure the region can get the most out of the Games.

Discussions on how the Sunshine Coast can best leverage the 2032 Olympics are already underway despite there being more than a decade before the Games kick off.

Fairfax MP Ted O’Brien has initiated the process to establish a local 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Taskforce for the region.

The potential initiative would consist of a core group of business and community representatives acting as the voice for what Coast residents would like to get out of the Games.

Dianne Swan was chair of the 2000 Olympic Taskforce and said the Brisbane Games would present an even greater opportunity for the Coast due to its proximity to the region.

“It’s a whole new game and it’ll need a lot of energy,” she said.

While it’s still early days Ms Swan said there were several opportunities the Coast could capitalise on, such as transport infrastructure and an increase in tourism on the back of Covid-19.

“The long-term assets are the things that help your community,” she said.

“We didn’t have a track at the university when we started (in 2000) and that’s a critical training track on the Sunshine Coast now.

“Our role was to identify the opportunity.”

Ms Swan said the Coast community would need to be heavily involved in the process, particularly young people.

“It’s a great way to enthuse the community and their involvement in the Olympics when they come to Australia, which is pretty rare obviously,” she said.

“Community involvement is the emotional content you need for these things to be really successful.”

Mr O’Brien said the value of the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics would extend further than the few weeks the Games were actually held.

“The 2032 Games is not our final destination, but rather an enabler to deliver economic and social opportunities in the lead up and lasting legacies beyond,” he said.

Scenes at Kings Beach Caloundra as Brisbane is announced as the host of the 2032 Olympic Games. Picture: Lachie Millard

“This is where a community-owned local taskforce comes in to play, because it’s always locals who know best for what their part of the world needs.

“No two areas of Queensland are the same which is why local communities need to take charge of defining their own vision for how to leverage the Games to suit them.”

While the branding for the Olympics focused on a particular city, Mr O’Brien said the economic and social opportunities would go far beyond Brisbane.

“While governments have a role to play in getting the big pieces in place, it’s local communities that will ultimately determine how to use the Games to work for them,” he said.

“My hope is that local taskforces pop-up right across Queensland.”