Business leaders, sporting identities back proposed Olympic precinct

Two of the state’s top businessmen have joined leading sports stars in backing a bold plan for a privately-funded Olympic stadium on the Brisbane River as part of a $6bn mega precinct.

Two of the state’s top businessmen have joined leading sports stars in backing a bold plan for a privately-funded Olympic stadium on the Brisbane River as part of a $6bn mega precinct.

Events king Harvey Lister and Howard Smith Wharves boss Luke Fraser have applauded the proposal for a new 60,000-seat waterfront stadium on the Northshore site between Hamilton and Eagle Farm.

Despite the groundswell of support the government, however, has confirmed it quietly started the tender process for QSAC last week.

Cricket legend Allan Border has also backed the concept, as has Paris Olympics gold medallist Lani Pallister and Olympian Steven Bradbury, who accused Premier Steven Miles of “sitting on his hands” on the Olympics stadium issue.

The proposed Olympic precinct would include the stadium, athletes’ village, aquatic centre and retail space. Artwork Supplied

The plan was unveiled by the Brisbane Design Alliance, a consortium of top architects, including the firm behind world-class stadiums including the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles – home of the LA Rams and LA Chargers NFL teams – and the AT & T Stadium in Texas where the Dallas Cowboys play.

The stadium would be the centrepiece of a precinct which would also boast a hotel, 2500 apartments initially used for the athletes’ village, an aquatic and wavepool centre, a retail and restaurant hub, and pedestrian walkways along the river.

The alliance claims the project could be privately-funded.

A similar model was used to build Perth’s Optus Stadium, with the government there contributing 60 per cent of the funds, while the remainder was paid for by the Westadium Consortium.

Harvey Lister.

Luke Fraser.

Mr Lister, whose company ASM Global manages more than 350 venues worldwide including Suncorp Stadium, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and Boondall Entertainment Centre, said it was an exciting proposal.

“It’s a great example of a fantastic vision by architects,” he said. “The thing we keep hearing from people in South East Queensland is that they’re just worried they’re going to be embarrassed (by the 2032 Olympic venues).

“I’m sure that’s not the government’s intention at all and yes, they have to be responsible about funding, but I think the Northshore design shows that there is more than one solution and I think it should be part of the mix (when it comes to making final decisions about Olympic venues).”

Bradbury – who took out gold in the 1000m speed skating event at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics – had high praise for the bold design, saying it looked like the greatest stadium to ever be built for an Olympic Games.

“There’s a lot of question marks over whether it can be privately owned and profitable,” he said.

“Whichever way you skin it, Brisbane’s got to get over it and build an amazing stadium whether that’s this or Victoria Park – it’s not going to be (QSAC) next to the Mount Gravatt cemetery.

But Bradbury said he doesn’t expect either side of politics to make tough Olympic decisions until after the October state election.

“Steven Miles is sitting on his hands, playing the cost-of-living crisis card, but that is completely separate from what’s expected of a host city,” he said.

“We’re talking about the biggest sporting event in the world here.”

Border – the former Australian cricket captain who has advocated for the Gabba to be knocked down and turned into housing and a new stadium built for cricket, AFL and the Olympics – said he was also a fan of the Northshore proposal.

“We want to do the Olympics right, don’t we?” he said.

“To do that, you’ve got to have decent facilities – you can’t just go in half-baked, you know, redo this and redo that. We’ve bid for the Olympics, we’ll look like idiots now if we don’t do it right.”

Border said the Northshore proposal “could be a great facility for a great Olympics”.

“It would be easy-in and easy-out – I love the Gabba, but it’s a hard place to get in and out of,” he said.

“You’d basically have to knock it down to rebuild it properly, so why not turn the area into housing we desperately need, build a new stadium and move all the sports there once it’s built? I just think it’s a no-brainer which would ultimately pay for itself.”

Gold medallist swimmer Lani Pallister. Picture: Adam Head

Mr Fraser said some of the world’s best stadiums were inner-city venues like Northshore – “close to restaurants, bars and cultural spaces that add to pre and post-game entertainment experiences”.

“Of course it’s important to balance the costs of a new stadium with other requirements of our city, but if we can achieve this and showcase the very best that Brisbane has to offer, this will solidify our position on the global map and leave a legacy for generations to come,” he said.

Pallister, who won gold in the 4x200m freestyle in Paris, said the French capital had shone during the Olympics with venues such as La Defense Arena.

“It was huge – I’d be so disappointed if I had to compete at Chandler during the Brisbane Olympics after experiencing La Defense Arena in Paris,” she said.

Pallister said while she appreciated taxpayer funds were tight, the government “really could miss an opportunity” with its controversial plan to spend $1.6bn upgrading the Queensland Sport and Athletics Venue at Mt Gravatt into what would be the smallest Olympic stadium in more than a century.

Di Farmer at a media conference in Brisbane on Saturday. Picture: David Clark

Speaking on Saturday, Miles government minister Di Farmer said the state wanted to own its Olympic stadium and had already issued tenders for QSAC upgrades and the Hamilton athletes’ village.

“We are already investing heavily in the Northshore area, we’ve already got dwellings there, we have already put out a proposal and tender for the athletes village,” she said.

“The government is always interested in private investment ... but I think that the die has been set. We want to move forward.”

Brisbane City Council Olympics and Paralympics civic cabinet chair Krista Adams said the Northshore plan was “big and eye-catching” and public transport for the Games would be critical.

The opposition has pledged a 100-day review of Olympics infrastructure plans if it wins the October election. HKS Australia Director Andrew Colling said he had received a lot of interest in the 24 hours since the proposal went public.