Anna Caldwell: Brisbane winning the Olympics is the wake-up call Sydney needs

With Queensland set to hold an Olympic Games in the near future, Sydney should use that as a wake-up call to reinvent a vision for its future.

Queensland landing the Olympic Games could just be the best thing to happen to Sydney in years.

Because, while Sydney is indisputably the best city in Australia, we need a serious kick up the rear to start imagining what we want our city to offer a decade from now.

Sydney, blessed with the best natural beauty and assets of any major city in the world, has a terrible habit of resting on its laurels.

And a Queensland multibillion-dollar investment in sports infrastructure and tourism razzle dazzle might be just what we need in order to level up.

Olympics in Brisbane or no Olympics in Brisbane, Sydney needs to lift its game.

Dominic Perrottet’s future vision of Sydney has been shown up by Brisbane’s Olympics bid. Picture Terry Pontikos

As we emerge from Covid victorious, leaving our interstate classmates light-years behind, it is prudent to ask ourselves: What have we to show for all this other than proving that we were Australia’s best survivors?

In a city that’s striving to be world-class, we should be aiming for something better.

With a stunning 70 per cent of the adult population vaccinated, New York City threw off its shackles this week, lifting any and every Covid restriction.

New York is back, strutting her stuff for the world and travel is coming back in our major competitor countries while we stay locked up.

We are an Australian success story, yes, but by world standards, Sydney is on track to being left ­behind.

We need a road map for bringing international travel back, and a ­faster vaccine rollout — both of which rest largely with Canberra.

But, locally, the onus is now on the best minds in NSW to consider what more we can do to inject new energy into the next decade.

Peter V’landys is a visionary who is not afraid to take risks. Picture: Britta Campion

A year ago, as the pandemic took hold, politicians were buzzing with think pieces about how Covid could change Sydney for good, paving the way for whole new ways of thinking and achieving out of the box. But as we emerge from the haze, we must ask ourselves: What have we got to show for all this.

A few little wins like outdoor dining and more agile planning laws aside, have we really changed much at all?

As NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet prepares to hand down his fifth state budget on Tuesday, he ­triumphantly declared this week “we’re investing in everything”.

He’s basically right. It’s like an Oprah style “you get a car” spendathon designed to build (and dine) our way out of a pandemic funk.

Perrottet has a laser-sharp focus on job creation and driving the economy. He, along with John Barilaro and Stuart Ayres, has been the strongest force in keeping NSW humming. That’s something to be proud of.

But as we spend billions and billions to keep stimulating the economy, it is time for some big ideas to make the most of it.

Sydney was the only place on the planet that was putting the live production Hamilton.

The best example of big city-­defining ideas in recent times has been Peter V’landys driving the NSW events economy.

Showing guts and taking risks, he invented major race days like The Everest and Golden Eagle that have redefined the Sydney social calendar, and then went on to set the tone for our confidence that we can stay afloat even in the most disastrous of times, keeping racing and the footy on in the pandemic.

The V’landys model — high risk/high reward — is a display of what’s possible.

The other city leader in recent times has been entertainment executive and producer Michael Cassel, who took a huge risk to bring Hamilton to Sydney in a ­pandemic.

He persevered in the face of the deeply concerning possibility the whole show could be shut down due to an outbreak.

But the reward for Cassel’s bravery has been defining for our city, with Sydney becoming the only place on the planet that was putting the live production on. The world was looking to Sydney putting on a show — exactly how the natural order of things should be.

An artist impression of the proposed Gabba redevelopment if Brisbane wins the rights to the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.

One idea on the agenda that sits untouched in the Star’s proposal for a six star hotel and twin tower development at Pyrmont. The Star has been agitating to redefine the local tourism markets for years now but keeps facing red tape. These ideas present opportunity for our city to keep bravely evolving.

Another V’landys idea on the drawing board is the development of boutique stadiums — a bid to bring tribalism back to the game of rugby league and revive neighbourhoods and communities with new vigour

Invariably, any time anyone talks about investment in stadiums, be they small or large, there is an ­element of political push back.

The 2019 NSW election was ­defined by these brawls to the point that in one press conference Gladys Berejiklian was too afraid to even utter the word stadium.

But as Queensland prepares for a possible Olympics, Sydneysiders will become less and less satisfied with our 20-year-old Stadium Australia and ageing suburban grounds.

A Queensland events and tourism renaissance should spur Sydney on to keep renewing itself.

Perrottet said to me this week he believes his government is only at “half time” and has a way to go as it keeps building the future.

“It’s the best city in the world and we’ve got to take it from good to great,” he said.

He’s right — going from good to great is a puzzle for every one of us. We must not squander this opportunity.