Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Federal minister backs arena construction
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s fight to guarantee a new inner-city Brisbane Arena for the Olympics and beyond has received heavyweight backing amid a poaching raid from the Gold Coast.
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The federal Infrastructure Minister has thrown her support behind the Lord Mayor’s fight to guarantee a new inner-city Brisbane Arena, labelling it an important legacy project for the city and the nation.
Her comments come amid concerns that plans to build the venue could be scrapped if swimming events at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games were relocated to the Gold Coast.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Tuesday slammed Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate’s bid to poach swimming from Brisbane, vowing to fight “tooth and nail” to ensure the $2.5bn arena that would replace the Brisbane Entertainment Centre is built as a lasting legacy of hosting the Games.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King told The Courier-Mail the federal government remained committed to its $2.5bn investment in the arena, as significant progress was being made with work well under way on the joint business case.
“Projects like the Brisbane Arena prove to Queensland residents that the government is serious about ensuring the Games leave a lasting legacy,” she said.
“The arena will provide a much-needed indoor entertainment venue that will be enjoyed by the community well into the future.
“This is an important project for Brisbane, and for Australia, and we’re looking forward to getting it done.”
Premier David Crisafulli declined to promise the arena would happen, instead saying a world-class Games venues plan would be unveiled on March 25 at The Courier-Mail’s Future Brisbane lunch.
“We are fulfilling exactly what we said and you will get a generational plan that makes sure that every single part of this state benefits from it and it is going to be world class and there is not long to wait,” Mr Crisafulli said.
Cr Tate on Wednesday doubled down on his criticism of the $2.5bn Brisbane Arena plan and his assertion that the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre at Southport should host swimming instead.
“Why would you do it (Brisbane Arena) when, just down the road, you’ve got a six-pool aquatic centre here on the Gold Coast,” he said.
“We’ve already proved we can host major meets there.”
Queensland Olympics Minister Tim Mander said he welcomed the stadium stoush between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, but would not be drawn on his preference for where the blue-ribbon swimming event should be staged.
Speaking on the Glitter Strip to promote next year’s Asian Cup women’s soccer tournament, Mr Mander said the public debate between Cr Schrinner and his Cr Tate was healthy for debate.
“I think it’s fantastic that we have our local cities and local towns that really want the Games played in their areas,” he said.
“So we welcome that type of attention and we welcome the fact that people want events.”
Asked if Cr Tate made a compelling case with his argument that swimming could be delivered for a smaller outlay using the city’s existing aquatic centre, Mr Mander said cost was one of “lots of issues to take into account”.
“Well, it makes logical sense to Tom Tate, which is, of course, what he would say,” he said.
“Of course, the cost of venues is a very important factor that the independent infrastructure authority will be considering… but there’s lots of issues to take into account.”
Mr Mander said he was “neutral with regards to where these venues will be”.
“That’s why we’ve got a panel of experts to give us advice on those things and it’s important now that those decisions are made and that we get on with building the facilities and the venues that of course we need for the games,” he said.
“Of course, the Games Independent Infrastructure Coordination Authority will be submitting its final report in the next couple of weeks and once we’ve got that, we can put all this speculation to bed and get on with building the venues that are so necessary.”
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor – who spoke at the Business Chamber Queensland’s 2025 Federal Election Address – would not say if he thought the new Brisbane Arena was an important 2032 legacy venue.
Instead, he said he was waiting to see what the review of Games infrastructure recommended.
“We’ll look at the review, what the outcome of it is and work with the state colleagues in an appropriate way,” Mr Taylor said.
“Obviously, you’ve got a hard deadline with Olympics … and you’ve got to make (it).
“We’ve got to make sure we’ve got a clear path forward.”
But he said creating legacy was “incredibly important” – and that Brisbane 2032 was a “monster opportunity”.
“Part of it is the infrastructure, of course,” he said.
“I’m saying there’s a much broader legacy that we need to be thinking about – and it’s incredibly important that the federal government, all levels of government, and the private sector play a role in it.”
The federal Infrastructure Minister has not received a request to reallocate any of the $2.5b committed to the Brisbane Arena as details of the 2032 infrastructure review report are kept tight.
Ms King will not meet with the Deputy Premier to discuss the draft 2032 infrastructure review report while in Brisbane amid uncertainty over Brisbane Arena and the location of the main stadium.
But Ms King said Jarrod Bleijie had promised to give the federal government “early line of sight” of the final report.
“I text messaged with him on (Wednesday). The Deputy Premier has undertaken to give us early line of sight of the final report of the Brisbane Olympics review,” she said.
“As a 5050, partner in funding the Olympic venues, we’re very keen to work with the Queensland Government on ensuring that we have this lasting legacy.”
Ms King was in Brisbane on Thursday spruiking a $200m transport package, including $50m of City Deal money for a Brisbane Metro business case to investigate four proposed extension routes.
Ms King said she “would not get into hypotheticals” on if the federal government would give more funding towards a new stadium like at Victoria Park.
She said their main commitment remained the $2.5b for Brisbane Arena.
“We think the Brisbane Arena is a really iconic and important project for the city of Brisbane, particularly leaving that legacy for a large scale entertainment venue,” she said.
“We’ve done the business case work.
“It is ready to go, and that is where the Commonwealth money currently sits, as well as the money that’s going into the minor venues.
“We will work with the Queensland Government once they’ve got a line of sight in terms of what they want to do in relation to the review, and we’ll make our decisions based on that, but collaboratively.”
Ms King confirmed she was yet to receive any requests for the $2.5b area funding to be used for another 2032 project.
“We simply just don’t know what’s in the review,” she said.
“I do have a view, obviously, that the Brisbane Arena is really important.”
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