Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Sydney, Melbourne set to host events

Sydney and Melbourne will get a slice of the Olympic action in 2032 as the Brisbane games take in the eastern seaboard.

Sydney and Melbourne will host the world’s best football teams under a national plan to share the spoils and spectacle of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

A blueprint lodged with the International Olympic Committee as part of Brisbane’s bid for the Games reveals preliminary matches of football will be played in Australia’s two largest cities.

Olympic matches of the global sporting code would be played at the redeveloped Sydney Football Stadium and Melbourne’s AAMI Park.

Harry Souttar (R), Mitch Duke (C) and Connor Metcalfe (L) take to the field prior to the Men's Football Group C match between Argentina and Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images)

Townsville, Toowoomba, Cairns Sunshine and Gold Coasts will also host preliminary matches while the football finals are set to be played at Brisbane’s flagship Suncorp Stadium in front of 52,000 spectators.

Olyroos striker Mitch Duke, 30, said holding matches in several Australian states would create a boon for the sport across the nation.

“It’s amazing to be able to host an Olympics back in Australia,” he said.

“Australian football has definitely thrived on having home games.

“We have a very good record at home … everyone steps up another level.”

The Sydney Football Stadium and AAMI Park are the only two interstate venues set to be used during official Brisbane Olympic competition.

“Football Australia expects this enormous global event to capture the hearts and minds of the Australian public, and deliver significant sporting, social and economic benefits to our great nation,” its CEO James Johnson said.

“Australia is a great host, and once again we will welcome the world in the spirit of friendship and look forward to creating lasting memories.”

Supplied artist impression of the proposed Gabba redevelopment for the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.

Penrith’s Whitewater Stadium and the Sydney International Regatta Centre, both used for the 2000 Olympics, are listed as alternative venues for canoe slalom and rowing.

Heat events and preliminaries for other sports – including basketball and volleyball – will be held on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts.

Sports Minister Richard Colbeck said sharing the benefits of Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics would inspire the next generation sporting stars.

“We have so many opportunities for our young athletes to see the world’s best on the world stage on Australian soil,” he said.

PREMIER’S BOLD CALL ON $5 BILLION OLYMPIC BUDGET

Jacquelin Magnay, in Tokyo

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games operating budget of $5bn is “not a huge amount’’, reassuring taxpayers that the Games formula is to be cost-neutral.

But the manoeuvring between Queensland and Canberra over the big-ticket items to transform southeast Queensland and help prop up the Games is just at the start line.

Just who is going to pay for the $1bn redevelopment of the Gabba, the centrepiece of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games?

Hours after impressing the International Olympic Committee and winning the Games, Ms Palaszczuk said, “Of course there is the joint funding for the Gabba redevelopment and Brisbane Live’’ suggesting that the commonwealth has agreed to stump up billions, not just for one big venue, but two.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks at a press conference at the MPC at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after she successfully bid to hold the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. Picture: Adam Head

The Gabba is slated to host the ceremonies and track and field at the Games, while Brisbane Live, an already-announced $2.1bn, 18,000-seat indoor entertainment venue, will double up for the swimming.

Ms Palaszczuk said: “What we have agreed with the federal government is to match some vital infrastructure which the southeast of our state already needs. I sought that commitment before we went to the next stage (of bidding) that there would be a 50 per cent contribution between the state and the federal governments and of course the councils (of southeast Queensland) are putting in money as well.

“We have quite a large $14bn infrastructure budget this year alone and $50bn over four years in infrastructure.

“So the commitment for the federal government and the state is not a huge amount when you compare to our existing budgets so I’m very confident that is part of our ongoing planning.”

She then added: “There is the transport, we can absolutely do that, and of course there is joint funding for the Gabba redevelopment and all the joint funding for the Brisbane live area, so these are legacy projects for the site and the city.”

It is planned that a Brisbane organising committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, possibly known as BOCOG, will organise the Games – and this structure will have oversight of the $5bn Games budget.

A separate body, known as the Olympic Co-ordination Authority (OCA), will plan and deliver a yet-to-be-agreed list of joint infrastructure projects.

Sports Minister Richard Colbeck said both budgets would be carefully scrutinised and monitored.

“The commonwealth has a role in the strategic decision making and the assessment of those projects so we will both be keeping a close eye on those costs because it’s in our interests to do so,’’ he said.

“Part of the agreement with the Prime Minister is that the structure of the mechanisms that support the delivery of the Games will give the commonwealth an equal say in those processes.

“Our budget and decision making will be part of that as well alongside the Queensland government. We are working through those systems right now, I have to say very, very cooperatively with the Queensland government.”

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said the $5bn organisation budget “will not be a cost to the ratepayers or the taxpayers”.

Mr Coates said that budget had factored in $800m of contingency, and he was intent on driving down more costs after implementing some simplification measures that have been introduced at the postponed Tokyo Olympics.

Ticket buyers, sponsors and the IOC will fund the operational costs of the Games.

Originally published as Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Sydney, Melbourne set to host events