Palaszczuk’s Olympic hopes for re-election

An Olympic Games bid win won’t just deliver thousands of jobs and boost the economy, it may also get Annastacia Palaszczuk back over the line come the next election.

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk is staking a big part of her re-election prospects on today’s meeting in Switzerland to secure the 2032 Olympics, saying it will turbo-boost the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs for the next half a century.

“This is as big as it gets for us as a state,’’ she said.

“The economic impact of an Olympics will set us up for not one but two generations. It’s not just the infrastructure. It’s the legacy piece around tourism.

“I’m a proud and passionate Queenslander and I’ll be telling (IOC president) Thomas Bach that we are ready and willing to deliver the best Games ever.’’

Ms Palaszczuk and Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates will lead a high-powered delegation that will meet today with IOC bosses in Lausanne.

The delegation also includes federal MPs Ted O’Brien and Milton Dick, Council of southeast Mayors chief Mark Jamieson and Star Entertainment Group chairman, John O’Neill.

They have seven hours of meetings with Mr Bach and his executive team where they will spell out Queensland’s political, economic and safety credentials.

The IOC has changed the eligibility rules around the bid process to streamline the way countries stake their claim, making it more cost-effective.

The IOC has indicated that a Queensland bid would attract a $2,6 billion funds injection to help with key facilities such as the athletes village.

The main opponents for a 2032 Brisbane hosting appear to be a German region, based around Bonn, and possibly Shanghai, which is making preliminary inquiries.

The joint North Korea-South Korea bid is seen as politically and militarily risky, while there are serious questions about the delivery outcomes for Mumbai and Johannesburg.

Ms Palaszczuk said key infrastructure would need to be accelerated, including a second M1 between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, Cross River Rail and the Brisbane Live entertainment project.

But she said the worldwide tourism benefits had been assessed at many billions of dollars.

“We are talking about jobs in key industries like construction and tourism for the next 30 years,’’ she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Coates saw the Queensland bid as “clearly our best chance for the Games in a very long time’’.

“The stars have aligned and the IOC are very enthusiastic about hearing from us,’’ she said.

It’s understood the IOC was impressed with the way the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was delivered, and many within the Olympic movement still regard Sydney as the best Games ever.

The IOC is also cognisant of Australia’s bid being supported by the three tiers of government Commonwealth, State and local government.

The plan is for a number of sports to be held outside the southeast triangle, including the sailing in the Whitsundays.

The formal bid would be presented by July next year and a decision was likely by 2021.

Originally published as Palaszczuk’s Olympic hopes for re-election