Cameron Dick says David Crisafulli an ‘inner-city snob’ over stadium opposition
Steven Miles has called David Crisafulli “weak” and accused the LNP of endorsing the Victoria Park stadium proposal behind closed doors.
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Premier Steven Miles has called Opposition Leader David Crisafulli “weak” and accused the LNP of endorsing the Victoria Park stadium proposal behind closed doors.
Addressing media in Cairns on Thursday, the Premier said Mr Crisafulli was “too weak” to stand up to inner-city Brisbanites vouching for the Victoria Park stadium.
In a poll voted on by more than 9700 Courier-Mail readers in August, 73 per cent backed the Victoria Park proposal, with just 17 per cent behind the Premier’s QSAC choice, while 10 per cent supported the rebuild of the Gabba.
“What we don’t need is another $3bn, gold-plated venue, just because David Crisafulli is too weak to stand up to those few people,” he said.
Mr Miles said the current $7bn funding cap on Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure for 2032 was already a “fair bit of money,” before claiming the Opposition intended to spend an additional $3bn building Victoria Park.
“Yesterday you saw the LNP leader, David Crisafulli, commit billions more,” he said.
“He wants to build another $3bn stadium on top of the $7bn that’s already committed.”
State Development Minister Grace Grace also told The Courier-Mail she would hold off appointing a permanent chief executive officer to lead the government’s independent Games Venue and Legacy Delivery Authority until after the October 26 election.
“Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee chair Andrew Liveris and Lord Mayor (Adrian) Schrinner have written to me requesting that no appointments are made to the GVLDA Board before the state election,” Ms Grace said.
“The government has agreed to this request and we will progress this soon after the election.
“GVLDA continues to deliver its functions under interim CEO Emma Thomas.”
Former Sunshine Coast Council CEO Ms Thomas was appointed interim CEO for a six-month term on July 1.
Seven independent board directors will be appointed to the delivery authority by its permanent CEO.
Deputy Premier Cameron Dick earlier accused Mr Crisafulli of being an “inner-city snob” who looks down on Brisbane’s southsiders after the latter slammed the planned revamp of a 50-year-old suburban stadium as cringe-worthy.
Mr Dick, in defence of Brisbane’s 2032 Olympic and Paralympics Games legacy, also likened the $2.5bn fully federally funded Brisbane Arena at Roma St Parkland to New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“We are delivering these Olympics within the framework of the IOC new norms. The Olympics for the future need to be sustainable, financially, socially and environmentally and so that is our focus,” he said.
“We have been absolutely fair dinkum and upfront with Queenslanders about what our plan is for venues.
“You may not like our plan … some Queenslanders may not like our plan, but you know what our plan is, and you can’t say the same thing for David Crisafulli. Another review, it’s the last thing we need.”
The Opposition has vowed to conduct an independent review into Olympic and Paralympic projects within 100 days if it wins the October 26 election, in an effort to find the best value for money stadium without exceeding the current $7.1bn funding pool.
Mr Crisafulli this week doubled down on his recent criticism of the QSAC proposal, saying it made no sense.
“It’s a horrendous plan, and its prospect in the eyes of any Queenslander other than a bloke called Steven, is zilch,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s any scenario where any Queenslander looks at that (QSAC) plan and doesn’t see anything but cringeworthiness from a desperate government.”
Mr Dick claimed the LNP had dug themselves into a corner by rejecting the QSAC proposal and the full knockdown and rebuild of the Gabba.
“His only option is to spend $3bn on a brand new stadium,” he said.
“David Crisafulli is an inner-city snob. That’s what he is … that’s why he’s looking down on people who live on the south side of Brisbane.
“Upper Mount Gravatt … is not the bush. The bushland that is behind and around QSAC is an absolute jewel in the environmental crown of South East Queensland.”
Defending the government’s decision to spend $1.6bn upgrading QCAS, Mr Miles likened the strategy to what was achieved by Paris.
“The IOC, in their contribution to our venues review, identified QSAC as a suitable venue,” he said.
“Many of the venues in Paris incorporated temporary seating or temporary expansion, and that’s what we’re considering there at QSAC”.
A Project Validation Report into QSAC is due mid-2025, with the Premier confirming the stadium’s seating capacity would not exceed the currently proposed maximum of 40,000 during the Games.
Mr Dick said the LNP could not meet its promise of lowering debt while building a new stadium without making cuts to existing projects.
Mr Crisafulli on Thursday refused to reveal what type of stadium should be used for the 2032 Games after condemning both the $1.6bn QSAC proposal and $2.7bn Gabba rebuild.
Asked to tell Queenslanders what characteristics he believed the 2032 Brisbane Olympic venue required, Mr Crisafulli gave a clumsy response, pivoting to say the LNP would only have a clear plan after the October election.
“We will have a proper plan, and it will create generational infrastructure that every part of Queensland will benefit from, and every Queenslander will be proud of,” he said.
Mr Crisafulli in March ruled out the construction of Victoria Park, saying a new stadium was “never the agreement” for Queenslanders.
While the Opposition has never directly criticised the Gabba as a 2032 athletics venue, it did call on the government to scrap its $2.7bn rebuild, saying knocking the stadium down would be a waste of money.
The state government again questioned what options would be available if both QSAC and the Gabba were off the table.
“If (Mr Crisafulli) doesn’t support that (QSAC) option then he must support the $3.5bn Victoria Park option, and nobody I talk to out in the suburbs of Brisbane or indeed regional Queensland thinks that’s a good use of money,” Mr Dick said on Thursday.
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