‘Telling it like it is’: Olympic boss’s warning over Brisbane’s Games standing

Potential major sponsors of Brisbane 2032 are being wined and dined as its organising committee president attempts to avoid early cost blowouts, while raising the city’s global profile.

Potential major sponsors of Brisbane’s 2032 Olympic Games are being wined and dined as organising committee president Andrew Liveris attempts to avoid early cost blowouts while raising the city’s global profile.

Speaking at a 1200-person Asia-Pacific Cities Summit in Brisbane today, Mr Liveris revealed domestic sponsors were already “in the room” with the organising committee discussing financial support less than nine years out from the Games.

“We’ve begun all those conversations, we have identified how many firms are fitting into those categories and we’ve begun a series of interactions including boardroom lunches and the beginning of roadshows,” he said.

“We’re putting all that in place to begin the process - chicken and egg - of saying this is our product.”

2032 Games organising committee president Andrew Liveris AO with Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Mr Liveris said the self-funded organising committee had to become a “commercial enterprise”, and declared keeping costs down nine years out from the Games was critical.

“I build a lot of things and pretty much all those things blow out of budget pretty quick if you don’t keep tight controls,” he said.

“That’s the elephant in the room that we’re not avoiding, we’re managing.

“We have to be very careful how we deploy funds against our projects … because it’s for the state and it’s for South East Queensland, so we have to get that right.”

Andrew Liveris warns there is more work to do to grow Brisbane’s global reputation. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Mr Liveris also unveiled the organising committee’s priorities for the year ahead, one of which was delivering the “brand” of the 2032 Olympic Games to boost Brisbane’s standing around the world.

“We’re in the process of creating a memorable brand that will tell the world who we are as the Games put Brisbane on the global map,” he said.

“Are we known out there in the world? Not really. We’ve got work to do.

“I’m telling it as it is, we’re going to have to overcome that but we have time and we have a plan.”

In a keynote address to the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt praised councils for their work in the waste sector, but called on the room’s 118 mayors and civic leaders to partner with industry to achieve more.

Mr Pratt made no mention of last week’s bombshell revelation that former US President Donald Trump may have illegally shared “potentially sensitive” details about the United States’ nuclear submarine program with him at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-lago club in 2020.

The Australian billionaire instead used his 10 minute address to promote Visy’s environmental work and call for renewed effort to cut methane emissions from landfill.

Keynote speaker Anthony Pratt addresses the 2023 APCS forum at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

“Recycling is the single most practical, accessible and achievable thing every ratepayer can do to help the climate,” Mr Pratt said.

“Halving Australia’s landfill would, number one, save councils and businesses $10bn a year in landfill costs.

“It would, secondly, create 20,000 sustainable manufacturing jobs and thirdly, save 150 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions … a third of Australia’s total annual greenhouse gas emission.”

Brisbane also joined La Paz as the world’s second city to achieve the United Nations’ gold level for sustainable development, it was revealed at the Cities Summit heard.

The gold level, applied for the council’s effort to cut waste and emissions, will make Brisbane more attractive to global investors and firms, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.

The Cities Summit continues Friday.