Council of Mayors says Pauline Hanson’s campaign against Olympics bid not in Queensland’s interests
The Council of Mayors (SEQ) has taken aim at Pauline Hanson over her decision to campaign against Queensland’s bid for the 2032 Olympics, dismissing it as “self-serving political commentary”.
SEQ Olympics 2032
Don't miss out on the headlines from SEQ Olympics 2032. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE ORIGINAL architects of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics bid have dismissed Pauline Hanson’s regional anti-Games advertising blitz as nothing but “self-serving political commentary (that) does nothing to support or advance the interests of Queensland.”
The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed the high-profile Queensland Senator will campaign against the state’s bid for the 2032 Olympics in a move that turns the Games into a political issue for October’s state election.
From mid-January, 52 One Nation billboards in regional and outer-urban Queensland will show an image of the One Nation Leader declaring, “2032 Brisbane Olympics. Regional Queensland Says No”.
Queensland Olympics 2032: Delegation meets with IOC boss in Lausanne
Sporting stars, business leaders push for southeast Qld Olympics bid
Senator Hanson praised the Games as a wonderful sporting event was not a nation-building project and funding should go to dam schemes.
The Council of Mayors (SEQ), which led the investigations into a South East Queensland Olympic and Paralympic Games since 2015, yesterday said regional Queensland backed the bid.
“In that time, the SEQ Mayors have always based their decision making on analysis and research, and not populism,” the organisation headed by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
“It is no secret the Council of Mayors (SEQ) started this investigation to bring all levels of
government together to ensure the critical transport infrastructure needs of South East Queensland are addressed as this region grows by a further 2 million people in the next 20 years.
“During these investigations, the Olympic and Paralympic Games presented an opportunity to not only create the momentum to address the region’s growth challenges but deliver something that would have enduring benefit for the whole of Queensland.
“Based on the significant reforms implemented by the International Olympic Committee, South East Queensland is well placed to mount a cost effective Games proposal that will drive benefits to the regions through preliminary and lead up events, pre-Games training, tourism and business contracts.
“This has been a significant factor in informing the decision to proceed with a proposal.
“Self-serving political commentary does nothing to support or advance the interests of Queensland.”
The SEQ Council of Mayors proposed a Games bid to fast-track new roads and rail with a feasibility study which gathered momentum on the back of The Courier-Mail’s Future SEQ campaign.
In June, The Courier-Mail and sister SEQ mastheads officially backed the bid with front page editorials.
In December, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Queensland was going for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics, won over by projections showing billions of dollars extra would pour into the state economy and create another 129,000 jobs on the back of the Games.
Is this the first hint of what Brisbane’s Games stadium will look like?
In what could be the first, albeit basic, visual hint of the 2032 Olympic Games centrepiece, the corporate logo for the Brisbane Stadium at Victoria Park has been revealed.
The venue trend that has outgoing Olympic boss on edge
The AOC’s outgoing boss has backed the Victoria Park stadium, but warned there was a risk the “magic” of the Olympics could be lost because of another key decision.