Why Brisbane ticks all the boxes for an epic Olympics
Paris and Los Angeles are regarded as mega cities. Now, Brisbane is among them and the spectacular leveraging opportunities that brings will not be lost on corporate Australia.
SEQ Olympics 2032
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O
ne of the sensitivities about the Queensland Olympic bid has been any financial commitment to infrastructure, required to host the Games.
While Cross River Rail will be built by 2025 and has always been planned – Olympics or not – the IOC has been keen to ensure there is not a massive spend on new projects leading into 2032.
They are keen to ensure there is no repetition of Athens or Brazil where huge amounts of money were spent, and the facilities are now no longer utilised.
However, projects such as a heavy rail line between the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast will proceed, as will a second M1 between the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
The Gabba will be transformed as part of a $1bn makeover and it will be the main stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics.
Athletes’ villages are earmarked for Hamilton Portside.
One of the questions that will no doubt be canvassed as the post-mortems are done on Australia’s successful Olympics bid will centre on the new bid process.
The question is – would Australia have been able to win an Olympics in 2032 under the old system, rather than the new Future Hosts Commission model?
Olympic insiders say Queensland’s chances would have been minuscule under the old arrangement.
“Just look at FIFA and what happened for Qatar in 2022,” an insider said. “This new process is much more measured, much more transparent, and obviously much less costly.
“There is a risk for the IOC on the new process. You certainly don’t get the competitive tension you’d get with the previous process.
“There’s the risk that the city designated with targeted dialogue will be complacent. But let me assure you the IOC set high benchmarks.
“No country can go through the motions.
“Queensland has earned the right to host these Games because they have presented a compelling narrative.”
WHY BRISBANE?
The Olympics needs a poster child and Queensland is it.
With the Olympics in 2024 being in Paris and then in Los Angeles in 2028, the trilogy will be completed by Brisbane in 2032.
Paris and Los Angeles are regarded as mega cities, and it has not been lost on the International Olympic Committee that the South East Queensland arrangement is a much smaller hosting metropolis.
But as the IOC goes forward as the world’s most influential and powerful sporting body, bringing a city such as Brisbane into the fold is incredibly significant.
The universality of the Olympics is important. It cannot just be an organisation that gives the green light to the super cities.
Brisbane is seen as the first of the so-called “growth’’ cities to secure an Olympics. In the future, we are likely to see regional bids in Germany and India compete for the right to host future Olympics.
Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles have populations of more than 10 million. South East Queensland’s population will be closer to five million when the Games begin.
Opening up the Games to smaller cities is now extremely important to the future brand of the IOC. The real future for the IOC is the growth cities.
Brisbane and South East Queensland are also seen as geopolitically stable and secure, with a sporting heritage that will ensure the Games are well attended.
Under the “new normal” for host cities, Brisbane has been given an 11-year runway to plan and prepare for the Games.
This is seen as a crucial reform, enabling countries to properly plan around infrastructure and getting the mix right.
The IOC brand needs Brisbane as much as Brisbane wants to host the Games in 2032. We are seen as a safe bet, at a time when global uncertainty is rife.
It is clear that right up until the IOC announcement that Queensland would host the Games, there were moves to undermine the process.
Qatar, in particular, voiced concerns about Coates writing the new bid rules and Australia being the first major beneficiary.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR CORPORATE AUSTRALIA
Australian corporations and business players will salivate at the prospect of teaming up with the IOC as partners for the Queensland Olympics.
Big global brand names, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, General Electric, airbnb, Panasonic, Omega, Samsung, Toyota and Visa will be activating serious Olympic marketing programs leading into Brisbane.
But it is the Australian corporate landscape that will be particularly keen to enter into meaningful sponsorship arrangements with the Australian Olympic Committee.
Corporate Australia saw the way that the Sydney 2000 Games not only transformed the way NSW marketed itself, but the leverage opportunities it provided to business was spectacular.
The Star Entertainment Group, which is building Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane and has the casino and accommodation precinct on the Gold Coast, will be a key player.
Star chairman John O’Neill was part of the delegation that travelled to Switzerland in 2019 for the first of the formal presentations to the IOC.
O’Neill (pictured) is a wily, experienced businessman, a former Rugby Australia chief executive during the halcyon years when Australia hosted the 2003 World Cup.
He says that Brisbane now needs to take a leaf out of Barcelona’s book.
“Barcelona saw its Olympics in 1992 as the start not the end,” Mr O’Neill said. “Sydney fell into that trap. The post-Games legacy for Sydney was not like Barcelona.”
Mr O’Neill said Australia’s second most recognisable brand was Queensland.
“We now have a 10-year green and gold runway to set Brisbane up as a true world city,” he said.
“We will be following heavy hitters like Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles.
“It’s not bad company.”
Also active in pursuing the Olympics was the Committee for Brisbane, a lobby group set up by the capital city’s most influential business types.
Committee for Brisbane chief executive Barton Green said Queensland now had the longest lead-in time of any host country in Olympics history.
“We now need to be ambitious and bold,” he said.
The committee published a paper, titled Brisbane 2033 – our Olympics and Paralympics legacies, which proposed a legacy that the South East thinks, acts and identifies as one region.
“This is where our best social, economic and environmental futures can be realised,” Mr Green said.
“Our paper proposed 20 big goals that describe a great future for SEQ.
“They identify opportunities in road and rail connectivity, regional data and digital competency, health and well being, First Nations recognition, investment in arts and culture,” he said.
Mr Green said that the global exposure for Brisbane would create an opportunity to attract international brands to base themselves in Queensland.
He said tacking the homelessness issue was important through affordable housing.
Whatever the aim, the opportunities for corporate Australia leading into and beyond an Olympics are extraordinary.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
The real work starts now on Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics.
The Australian Olympic Committee, in conjunction with the federal, state and local governments, will devise the best corporate model to go forward. That includes a high-powered organisational board, with a chief executive and elite senior executive team.
Then there will be the infrastructure board, again headed up by a chief executive with the knowledge and skill to ensure the venues and transport requirements are met.
In the first instance, these organisations will be smaller units, and it won’t be until 2025 or even 2026 until staffing numbers ramp up.
For example, Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Games, still has only 60 staff. Names being touted as chairman for the main board include Mr O’Neill, former Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, Racing Queensland chairman Steve Wilson, and Brisbane-based JLL chief executive Stephen Conry.
Names being bandied about for the chief executive role include former NRL boss Todd Greenberg, former Tourism Minister Kate Jones, Australia’s most senior Olympics bureaucrat Craig McLatchey and former senior government bureaucrat Dave Edwards.
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