Annastacia Palaszczuk says it was not an error to omit Paralympics from ministerial title

Annastacia Palaszczuk has today said she didn’t think omitting the term ‘paralympics’ from her title was a mistake, as the federal Treasurer said the benefits of the 2032 Games must extend beyond Brisbane City.

Premier and Olympics Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk didn’t include the term “paralympics” from her title when she first took on the role because the international body for the Games deemed it okay.

But she now recognised and accepted it was an issue “Paralympians feel very strongly about” and she was “more than happy” to add the term to her title.

Ms Palaszczuk, asked if it was an error to not have included the term paralympics in her title from day zero, said “no, not really”.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Jerad Williams

“Because as I explained I actually checked this, because I was concerned myself, I checked with the International Olympic Committee,” she said.

“They did indicate that there wasn’t any issue with it, but I understand this is a feeling that is coming from the Paralympians themselves, and therefore I’m happy to (include the term in the title).

“We want an inclusive games. I was also a previous minister for disabilities as well (and) I want to make these games as inclusive as possible so very happy to do that.”

Meanwhile, federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the legacy of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games must spread beyond the city to the outer suburbs, and the federal government was focused on delivering “meaningful investment” to Queensland.

Speaking at a Regional Development Australia Logan and Redlands summit on Thursday, Mr Chalmers said he didn’t want to see the 2032 Olympic Games become only about the event, but something which delivered long-term benefit.

“I want to make sure that we don’t think about the Olympics with a big spike in interest when we win the bid, and then it sort of disappears for a while, and then a bit of interest near the end,” he said.

“I think the onus is on all of us to make sure that we’re making sure all of the contributions that we can make to the Olympic effort are being made as we go.”

Mr Chalmers, the local member for Rankin in Logan, said the potential for the Games must extend to the nation’s “growth corridors”.

“I want to make sure that this big opportunity presented to us by the Olympics isn’t just something which is felt in the core of Brisbane City, as important as that is, but it’s something which delivers a lasting benefit for the growth corridors – for Redlands, for Logan, for the coasts, for Ipswich,” he said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers at Parliament House in Canberra this week. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

“We want to make sure that at the end of this – after we deliver an amazing Olympic experience, even better than what Sydney was able to do in 2000 – I want to make sure that the lasting benefit from the Olympics is not just a sense of local pride and national pride, but also genuine legacies in the growth corridors, like the one that we’re in today.”

Saying “ten years sounds like a long time until you think about the task ahead of us”, Mr Chalmers said he, along with Sports Minister Anika Wells and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King were focused on the contribution the federal government would make to the Games.

“Working closely with the state government, but also making sure that the investment from a federal point of view is the most meaningful investment that we can make,” he said.

“So we will work closely with the Premier, with the Treasurer, Cameron Dick, with Steven Miles, with Stirling Hinchliffe, to make sure that the contribution that we make is with an eye to ensuring that the benefits are spread right across Southeast Queensland – right across Australia, but particularly in Southeast Queensland, and not just in the very middle of Brisbane City.”