Editorial: Attracting sports to Brisbane for 2032 is right call

The Australian Institute of Sport should be relocated to Brisbane from Canberra as a springboard into and beyond the 2032 Games, writes the editor.

A concept by Archipelago for an Olympic Stadium at Brisbane’s Victoria Park

The Australian Institute of Sport should be relocated to Brisbane from Canberra as a springboard into and beyond the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games here.

It just makes sense. Sadly, the federal government has a different view – and has determined the AIS will remain where it is, in a city with a climate unsuited to high sports performance, but at least lacks any significant off-track entertainment distractions for the young athletes being nurtured there.

Federal Sport Minister Anika Wells – who hails from Brisbane – revealed in May that after a review, the decision had been made to keep the AIS in Canberra – and to invest $250m in upgrading its facilities to ensure it “remains the destination for Australia’s elite athletes to train, develop and ultimately succeed”.

That some of the money is being used to build a “multi-sports dome” to ensure track-and-field athletes can train indoors even in Canberra’s harsh winters is an irony that will not be lost on anyone living in sunny Queensland.

It was a missed opportunity to reset the AIS in the nation’s newest Olympic and Paralympic city ahead of our next home Games, a city that also boasts a perfect all-year climate for boosting athletic performance.

Minister Wells correctly said at the time that “when it was first built, the AIS was so successful in preparing our medal-winning athletes that it was replicated by sporting nations around the world and became the benchmark for achieving athletic success”. She went on to say the investment in its rebuild was “so we reach those benchmarks again as we commit to delivering world standard training facilities ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

But why Canberra? That question has never been properly answered.

Anyway, it might not matter. Our Olympic and Paralympic sports these days tend to have their own centres of excellence, usually – surprise, surprise! – based in one of the other mainland capital cities, rather than the one built on an old inland sheep paddock.

And the new state government has signalled that it is planning to target as many of them as possible to relocate to Queensland in the lead-up to the 2032 Games.

Last Thursday, it was announced that track cycling and BMX would relocate from Adelaide to Brisbane – to a new AusCycling Action and Acceleration Centre of Excellence at the Sleeman Sports Centre in Chandler on the southside, where the world-class Anna Meares Velodrome and SX International BMX Centre are located.

Queensland Sport Minister Tim Mander revealed at the announcement that he would be targeting other sports.

“We’re about to go through a process to have a strategy about that, about where are there opportunities,” he said.

“We do want other sports to centre their operations here. It’s a bit early for me to be able to give an informed answer there, but other than to say that we have that intent.”

He confirmed the government would be open to incentivising sports to relocate here, saying: “We really want to leverage off the fact that it’s a very strategic advantage to be in the location of where the Games is going to be, no matter what sport it is. (To) acclimatise to the local conditions to get used to them … We’d have to look at each case on its merits to see what other incentives were necessary.”

This is exactly the right approach. Legacy is often discussed in relation to the 2032 Games, an event which is of course about the athletes. What better way to deliver on that goal.

SANITY FINALLY PREVAILS

It really should not have taken the firebombing of a place of worship to convince the Australian Federal Police to establish a taskforce to investigate antisemitic incidents.

But they are right to have finally done so now. Not only will this overdue move mean that someone is taking responsibility for looking into what or who is behind the rise of this vile behaviour in modern-day Australia, but it acts as a clear signal to those tempted to engage in it that law-enforcement authorities are finally taking it seriously.

It should go without saying that antisemitism should have gone the way of the Nazis – destroyed forever 80 years ago by the sacrifices and courage of the Greatest Generation.

Sadly, that has not happened – and since Israel’s response to the horrific Hamas October 7, 2023 terror attack on its homeland, we have tragically seen antisemitism rear its ugly head across Australia.

In the wake of that event, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has failed a leadership test – perhaps distracted by the political calculus of Labor-held Muslim electorates.

But thankfully, sanity appears to have finally started to prevail – and to now know that the AFP will be keeping a permanent watch on these disgraces should offer at least some solace to our Jewish brothers and sisters. Five thousand of them are proud Queenslanders. We stand with them in these troubled times.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Attracting sports to Brisbane for 2032 is right call