London 2012 chief slams Palaszczuk’s Olympic Games power grab

The Queenslander knighted for his work as chief executive of the 2012 London Olympics delivery authority has expressed alarm over what’s happening here ahead of the 2032 Games.

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The Queenslander knighted for his work as chief executive of the 2012 London Olympics delivery authority has expressed alarm over Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Brisbane Games power grab.

“It’s not going to work, is it,” said Sir David Higgins, referring to the Queensland government’s move to abandon plans for an independent Olympic Co-ordination Authority and instead put the Premier’s department in charge.

Sir David Higgins. Picture: Richard Dobson

He said Olympic planning had to be done at arm’s length from the government with bipartisan political support. And the taxpayer who had to pay for it had to be told what was happening every step of the way.

“You’ve got to have a clear brief, proper governance and an independent board so that it can work with the various sporting bodies and the IOC,’’ he said.

“I think what is happening in Brisbane at the moment is a bit of a challenge.’’

The government and IOC Vice President John Coates have strongly defended the structure.

Sir David, the son of a Darling Downs cattleman, is an international engineer, railway expert and businessman who was knighted by Prince Charles for bringing home the London Olympics plan $1bn under budget – and a year ahead of schedule.

Sir David said he discussed the IOC’s preferred delivery model with Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games president, Andrew Liveris, over breakfast in London.

While happy to offer advice Sir David declined an invitation to join the Brisbane organising committee.

“Someone asked me to put my name forward and I looked at it. It had 20 people on it, and I thought it was a waste of time. It was just too many people, and I didn’t think it was going to work.

“There were five from federal five from state five from city hall and I thought, that’ll be a talking shop.’’

Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games president Andrew Liveris. Picture: Britta Campion / The Australian

Sir David said Palaszczuk’s committee did not seem to resemble the IOC’s preferred model that had successfully delivered the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 2012 London Games.

“The history of Olympics is nasty and even if you look at Sydney which is a massive success that must have gone through four heads of their organising committee and a couple of heads of their deliver body and they fought like cats and dogs.

“But ultimately, they came up with the right model that became the IOC blueprint. They decided you need to set up two arms-length bodies; one to put on the event itself and one to get the sponsors and to be commercial.”

He said the first body ensured the Olympics was funded by private contributions through global broadcast rights and international sponsorship deals.

“The second body is where all the public government money goes into from various sources. Both of those need to be arms-length governing bodies; have a clear brief and have a contractual relationship between one other.’’

That was the Sydney model he took to London.

“In the end it was such a good governance model - even though there were a lot of changes of people - that became the IOC’s preferred model. It’s the right model to go to (for Brisbane).’’

IOC Vice President John Coates yesterday defended the structure, saying the Brisbane circumstances are different to those presented in Sydney and London.

“David Higgins did a great job but the situation in Brisbane is different. Since Sydney and since London, we have required that venues are already existing or the plans are there for them to be put in place. What David is reflecting on is a different situation,” he said.

Annastacia Palaszczuk when Brisbane was announced as the 2032 Summer Olympics host city. Picture: Toru Hanai/Getty Images

Sir David believes the Premier faces an impossible task to co-ordinate five different government departments while negotiating with the federal government and the IOC.

“That is going to be a challenge,” he said.

“It’s not going to work, is it.

“I can’t see how any prime minister and premier’s department can co-ordinate that because you have to have a bipartisan approach.

“You have to have an approach where an Opposition clearly knows what it going on so when they get in they are not going to say, we just inherited a mess.’’

The creation of an OCA was a significant part of Brisbane’s submission to the International Olympic Committee, with a pledge to have it established five months after winning the 2032 bid. Instead, the government confirmed last week that the Premier’s office would lead co-ordination with her deputy Stephen Miles responsible for infrastructure.

Mr Miles defended the proposal, noting it would be reviewed after two years in ensure it is fit for purpose.

“This is a great model that will ensure we deliver the best games ever that will leave legacy benefits for Queenslanders for decades,” Mr Miles said.

“Deloitte was independently engaged to recommend the best governance structure which is the Brisbane 2032 Coordination Office. In recommending this model, Deloitte studied governance for the Sydney, London, Rio and Paris games.”

Five days after announcing it was abandoning the OCA, the government announced multiple political leaders would be part of the ‘leaders forum’.

Two federal ministers, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, mayors of the Gold and Sunshine coasts and representatives of the South East Queensland Council of Mayors and the Local government association will have seats at the table.

The Premier has also defended the move, saying it was more efficient: “It cuts red tape while at the same time provides input from all of our Games partners,” she said last week.