Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Regional Games a recipe for disaster

Queensland has been warned to learn lessons from the “debacle” of Victoria’s cancelled Commonwealth Games and not spread events too far across the regions. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and Queensland Premier David Crisafulli.

• Editor’s view: Heed red alert
• Games guru: Don’t go backwards

Queensland has been warned to learn lessons from the “debacle” of Victoria’s cancelled Commonwealth Games and not spread events too far across the regions to avoid major cost blowouts.

It is understood the Queensland government has been looking for ways to ensure more sports can be spread across the state, while Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie has been exploring how to reallocate the $2.5bn of federal funding for the Brisbane Arena to regional venues.

But multiple sources close to the Victoria 2026 Organising Committee and the doomed Commonwealth Games bid agreed the Daniel Andrews government’s regional vision was unrealistic and uncompromising, ultimately leading to its downfall.

Their warnings not to repeat the same mistakes for Brisbane 2032 echo the alarm raised by the former Victoria 2026 CEO at a public inquiry into the Games bid, who blamed having five proposed host cities for driving up costs.

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Event Pty Ltd director Simon Thewlis, who has intimate knowledge of the Victoria 2026 bid and submitted to an inquiry into the fallout of the cancelled Games, said Brisbane 2032 was a huge opportunity for Queensland.

But he warned there would be complexities trying to host any events in regional centres.

“It’s about learning to make sure that a debacle like that (Victoria 2026) can never happen again,” he said.

“Queensland has a great opportunity to learn from Victoria’s mistakes.”

In April 2022, the Victorian government signed the contract to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in the regional cities of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Latrobe and Shepparton.

The cancellation of the multi-hub regional Games came in July 2023 when then-premier Andrews blamed cost blowouts.

A source with knowledge of the Victoria 2026 Organising Committee said the Andrews government “overdid” the regionalisation of the Games and rejected “sensible advice” to bring events back to Melbourne to reduce costs.

“There were likely to be increased costs. These were driven by the Victorian government’s intransigence on not agreeing to bring some events into Melbourne, reducing the reliance of temporary venues or significant overlay in existing venues,” the source said.

“These measures would have saved money, reduced the complexity of Games delivery and provided a better spectator experience.”

The source said 2032 organisers needed be more realistic with their planning, and build venues that provided long-term legacy.

“They should be built for life after the Games,” the source said.

“V2026 was going to rely, disproportionately, on temporary overlay to existing venues or on fully temporary venues.

“This drives up the operating costs of the Games and leaves limited legacy.”

Mr Thewlis told The Courier-Mail it was “astonishing” the costs for the 2026 Games were originally modelled on the 2018 Gold Coast event.

He said extra costs of the regional multi-hub delivery model were only estimated from there.

“If you read the business case, it took about 10 minutes to see the fundamental flaws in it … they really didn’t do proper costings,” he said

Event Pty Ltd director Simon Thewlis

“You need to accommodate all of your staff, you need to transport people in, you need access to infrastructure, and they were all things which really weren’t allowed for at the very early days. All of those things cost a fortune.”

In October 2023, former Victoria 2026 CEO Jeroen Weimar told a public inquiry into the 2026 Games that no one had ever attempted to host an event across the regional scale that had been proposed.

The inquiry’s interim report stated that once Mr Weimar’s staff began planning the operational aspects of the multi-city model, it became clear the costs of a dispersed Games had been underestimated.

“What drove these costs were having not one but five host cities, requiring significant duplication of infrastructure and services,” Mr Wiemar told the inquiry.

Mr Thewlis said Queensland still had time to consult with mega event experts to confirm infrastructure and logistics costs were realistic so promises weren’t broken.

“The key thing with 2026 is that by the time they got the really good people in to work out what it would really cost, and what the real logistics were, all of the commitments had been made politically to regional centres alike, so they got themselves into an impossible situation,” he said.

Federal Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Catherine King would not comment on how many Queensland cities and towns should host 2032 events.

A spokeswoman for Ms King said the federal government would work with the state to ensure the Games delivered a lasting legacy for the state.

Originally published as Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Regional Games a recipe for disaster