Queensland enthusiasm for 2032 Brisbane Games wanes in exclusive YouGov poll

An explosive new poll has revealed what Queenslanders really think about the state hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• The issues: Qld like you’ve never seen it before

More than half of Queenslanders doubt the state government will deliver the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games “on time and on budget”, shock new polling can reveal.

The results show just a fraction of voters – six per cent – were “very confident” the government will stick to the Games budget, while a further 19 per cent were “fairly confident”.

But 58 per cent of those polled were not confident, with a staggering 32 per cent confirming they were “not at all confident” and a further 26 per cent were “not that confident”.

The state’s enthusiasm over hosting the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games has also seriously waned, with more than half of the 1000 people polled by YouGov not excited about the upcoming global event.

Tensions over the funding required to host the Games was thrust into the spotlight in recent months, with the decision to scrap establishing an independent infrastructure co-ordination authority also causing some concern.

Speculation over the details of the proposed 50:50 funding split between the state and federal government was finally put to rest in February, when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a $7bn Games deal with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

But as part of the deal the state will now go it alone on a $2.7bn knockdown and rebuild of the Gabba – a 170 per cent cost blowout from the $1bn price tag floated in the lead up to the bid.

When it came to whether the Labor or the LNP would be better at handling the Games budget, voters were split down the middle – with 20 per cent backing the current government and 19 per cent pledging their support for the Opposition.

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Games president Andrew Liveris and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

While the state was riding high after the Premier travelled to Tokyo close to two years ago to secure the Games – which will be the first hosted in the region in more than thirty years – the frenzy over the event has taken a dive in the wake of concerns over cost blowouts and cost-of-living pressures.

A new YouGov poll of more than 1000 Queenslanders found 59 per cent are not excited about the Games, while just 12 per cent were very excited and 22 per cent were fairly excited. A further seven per cent were undecided.

The results were significantly lower than in February, when close to half were very or fairly excited about the 2032 Games, and 50 per cent were not.

For those living outside Brisbane the Games were even less appealing – almost two-thirds of people in other parts of the southeast were not excited about the sporting event, while 68 per cent of voters across the rest of Queensland were enthused.