Brisbane 2032 chief Stephen Conry: Why we have to get the Olympic and Paralympic Games right
Brisbane’s Olympics tsar outlines why the city must nail 2032, saying that unlike other cities, Brisbane needs the games to ‘announce’ itself, and why criticism of a Victoria Park stadium site is nonsense.
QLD News
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Brisbane Olympics tsar Stephen Conry has warned of the troubles ahead and the “roadblocks” likely to threaten the delivery of the 2032 Games.
In an exclusive interview, Conry said criticism of the planned Victoria Park stadium site was utter nonsense and spoke optimistically about the “fantastic” transformation Brisbane will soon undergo.
“London, Paris and LA didn’t need the Olympic Games to announce themselves; Brisbane does. That is why we have to get it right,” he said.
“It will help make Brisbane a world-class city. It will be a fantastic investment in Brisbane in the lead-up to the Games and beyond.”
The 60-year-old chairman of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) also shared his fears about unforeseen but inevitable geotechnical problems that are sure to arise at one or more of the 12 Games venues.
Conry and his team will begin the “formal process of engagement” next week even though the so-called “intergovernmental funding arrangements” between Queensland and Canberra have not been set in stone.
Conry wants the new stadium and the aquatic centre to become striking symbols of Brisbane’s identity and an indicator of the city’s emerging global significance.
He and his board have to choose a Games delivery partner that will be responsible for the design, construction, engineering, technology and security at Games venues. It will most likely be a consortium.
“There are a lot of negotiations to go through to determine who has the rights to do that,” he said.
The winner will carry the risk to deliver the $3.7bn project on time and on budget.
“We have until July 23, 2032, to do a hell of a lot of work.”
Brisbane business circles are buzzing with the names of international construction and engineering firms who will bid for the work. They include BESIX Watpac, which has already built several stadiums in Australia and abroad. BESIX Watpac is likely to form a nexus with John Holland.
Successful stadium builder Multiplex is also in the mix, as is Laing O’Rourke, Built Australia and Bechtel.
Some of these firms are construction behemoths who build infrastructure such as airports and underground railway systems, ports, hospitals and art museums.
They will likely link up with local architectural firms in private sector partnership deals approved by the GIICA and the state government.
Some architects have suggested an international design competition should be held for the stadium.
New laws will give GIICA extraordinary powers to cut through the drawn-out planning approvals at venues throughout the state.
The Bill taken to the House by Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie also gives the authority the power to rebuff legal challenges and to resume land. The Bar Association says the new laws may impinge on fundamental legislative principles.
Conry says the new laws are necessary for the work to be completed on time.
“It is not to short-circuit the process but to expedite it, if I could put it that way,” he said.
“We still have to go through the proper processes, but the government has the power to enable that to happen quickly.
“The city council is supportive of what the government and GIICA has to do. They are happy for legislation to give us the powers to get on with it. Brisbane’s time hasn’t come yet, but it will.”
The successful consortium will not be a law unto itself, Bleijie told Parliament.
“All venues and villages will be required to comply with necessary building and safety requirements,” he said.
Under the Olympic host contract, the Queensland government must underwrite the cost of the Games delivery, Bleijie said.
He said GIICA will be required to have regard to relevant financial resources, to operate in good faith with government departments and provide information on an ongoing basis.
Conry’s overarching leadership group includes federal Sports Minister Anika Wells and federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, state ministers Bleijie and Tim Mander, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Andrew Liveris, president of the Games organising committee.
“The federal government is as committed as the state government to the success of the Games and ensuring it is delivered on time,” Conry said.
“There could be all sorts of issues; all sorts of roadblocks – we don’t know yet.
“There could be roadblocks put in front of us by anybody.
“You have to think about the long term and the big game here. The Olympics and the Paralympics is the biggest show on Earth.
“It’ll be fantastic for Brisbane. Brisbane is excited by it now because we have a plan.
“We will deal with criticisms and protests along the way, and we will do it respectfully and courteously. But you can’t change our conviction of doing what is right. And what is right is investing the taxpayer dollars wisely for all Queenslanders.”
Conry echoes Premier David Crisafulli’s mantra that the Olympics must deliver long-term benefits for Queensland after the Games “for our kids and grandkids”.
“They will be using the Brisbane Stadium for generations to come,” Conry said. “In the meantime there will be noise. In fact there may be seven years of noise, but we can deal with that.
“We learnt from our 100-day review when we received 5862 submissions that there are many and diverse views.
“The clear majority were supportive of the Games and what it will take to deliver them. We listened. We respected the diverse views and sometimes disagreed with them.’’
The new laws will grant GIICA immunity from civil proceedings if there was a “reasonable prospect” they would delay Olympic infrastructure delivery.
“I’m not surprised any more about anyone’s views on the Games or the delivery. A very clear majority are supportive, happy and excited,” he said. “There are people out there saying they want to ‘save Victoria Park’. Frankly, the Olympics will save Victoria Park.
“Victoria Park is not like Central Park in New York and not like Hyde Park in London, where they have very well patronised central city greenspaces. Victoria Park is not widely known in Brisbane and less widely used.
“It is a beautiful piece of inner-city land that will, in seven years’ time, be utilised by hundreds of thousands of people a year compared to very few people now.”
It was a golfing range and a function centre and not much else.
“The parklands are not well patronised, despite comments to the contrary,” Conry said.
“When we have a world-leading stadium there, it will open up the parklands for use by hundreds of thousands of people a year, and how exciting is that?
“This nonsense I hear about lack of transport and access is just that, nonsense. The nonsense I hear about how much of the site will be taken up by the stadium is also nonsense.
“This latest figure I hear of 58 per cent of the grass being taken up by the stadium is nonsense.
“It is as ridiculous as the original criticisms we were facing about all the residential development that would accompany the stadium. That was never going to happen.
“We will build a world-leading stadium that will be enjoyed by people all year, not just for cricket and AFL but for other major events.”
Conry reminds Save Victoria Park protesters there was initial opposition to the development of the MCG for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Yet it was a stunning success and is still one of the world’s great stadiums.
“When Brisbane Stadium arrives, they will love it,” he said.
“When the reality hits, they will see the stadium takes up far less space than the ICB, which goes right through Victoria Park.
“Can you imagine Brisbane without the ICB? Of course, Brisbane needed it. Of course, Brisbane needs a new stadium, and Victoria Park is the place for it.’’
He said Brisbane’s two botanical gardens were well used.
“But I say respectfully, many people do not even know where Victoria Park is,” he said.
Conry said it was too early to say exactly where Brisbane Stadium would fit in the park.
Architects say the site’s sloping ground offered challenges – and also opportunities. There may be space under or near the stadium for restaurants or other facilities. One suggested an aquarium or similar major tourist attraction.
Conry says it is too early to speculate.
“There is a lot of work to be done yet getting the sites ready before we even go to the construction stage,” he said. “There are a lot of planning approvals that have to be undertaken before we can start building anything anywhere.
“The legislation, if it is passed, gives us the powers to have works approved more quickly. It gives the government the authority to act quickly.
“The city council is very happy to work with what the government is trying to do through the enabling legislation (now before Parliament).
“Can you imagine if there were delays caused by all sorts of issues and all of a sudden you couldn’t meet the deadline?
“It might be any objection to a development approval process for anything for a stadium or a bus shelter. You can’t afford to have that risk.
“The government of the day is contractually obliged to deliver the Games by a set time.
“The government has to put in place what it believes is necessary to achieve that.
“I think people understand the need for that. I have heard no objections around that.”
The plan recommended in the 100-day review was “warmly embraced”.
“People are excited there is a plan, and no one seems to be objecting to the process around delivering it, Conry said.
Queenslanders want progress.
“They don’t want any more stuffing around,” he said.
Conry started work at 17 at international property colossus Jones Lang Wootton (now Jones Lang LaSalle) and retired as its Australian chief executive on his 40th anniversary there. He was the CEO for 14 years.
He always wanted to be an architect but was talked out of it because the profession was in the doldrums when he left school.
Instead he studied property valuation part-time while working full time.
“I was always wanted to do something with big buildings. That was my interest,” Conry said.
His work ethos, he says, came from his nine years at St Joseph’s Christian Brothers’ College at Gregory Terrace.
“Terrace taught me the value of collaboration, teamwork, hard work, extending yourself from the academic side to the sporting side and the social side,” he said.
He thanked legendary headmaster Brother Barry Buckley for that.
“I was very lucky to be a student under his leadership,” he said.
“The Christian Brothers ethos to me was terrific and very instructive. Brother Buckley was outstanding.”
Conry and his wife Samantha have a daughter aged 30 and boys aged 28 and 26. All three live in Sydney.
As a student at Terrace, he needed only to cross the road to swim at Centenary pool, where he is now planning one of the world’s great aquatic centres.
He is not sure whether there will be four or five pools.
“There are a lot of topography issues to be resolved,” he said.
He does know Australia’s new aquatic centre will be built around the heritage-listed Centenary pool, which was built in 1959 to the design of James Birrell, a winner of the prestigious Royal Australian Architects gold medal.
“It will be an amazing facility for state and national championships after the Olympics,” Conry said.
So far, no geotechnical problems have been found on any of the sites nominated as venues.
“We have to start the process to see if there are any issues,” he said.
He said difficulties can “pop up” on sites that seem straightforward enough on the surface.
“In all my years of looking at construction and development of major buildings or facilities around the country there are always some surprises,” he said.
He’s up for it.
“You have to have the toughness to get things done, and I believe we have that with the state and federal government ministers, and we most certainly have it with my board.
“You can’t be a shrinking violet when you are responsible for delivering, on taxpayer dollars, vital infrastructure in a non-negotiable time frame. That’s the reality.”
Originally published as Brisbane 2032 chief Stephen Conry: Why we have to get the Olympic and Paralympic Games right
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