Jarrod Bleijie to ask private sector to help fund 2032 Olympic Games
The private sector will be tapped for cash to save taxpayers from a multi-billion dollar Olympic and Paralympic Games bill.
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The private sector will be tapped for cash to save taxpayers from a multi-billion dollar Olympic and Paralympic Games bill when the final infrastructure report is handed to the state government on Saturday.
Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie will receive the venue masterplan, three-and-a-half years after Brisbane won the rights to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The seven Games independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority reviewers will recommend, as revealed in The Courier-Mail, a new stadium at Victoria Park and the relocation of Brisbane Arena to the Woolloongabba Goprint site, next to the soon-to-be-opened Cross River Rail station.
It is understood Mr Bleijie is concerned about the recommendations and the increased cost of venues.
Asked if he was satisfied with the draft version of the report, Mr Bleijie said “all will be revealed on the 25th of March”.
Relocating the long-awaited Brisbane Arena – which was proposed before Brisbane bid for the Olympics – to Woolloongabba from Roma Street Parkland is understood to be more cost-effective.
Delivering the two venues will put pressure on the government’s pledge to keep the cost of building venues within the $7.1bn funding envelope it signed with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February 2023.
Mr Bleijie this week said he was “optimistic” taxpayers would not pay more than $7.1bn to build legacy infrastructure and tasked the review board to consider other funding avenues.
“They need to look at the private sector and partner in the private sector to deliver this,” he said.
“We know that the government can’t do all this … the Queensland taxpayer can’t do all this on its own.
“So we are encouraging GIICA to work with the private sector and particularly regional Queensland and look at ways we can get infrastructure built that wouldn’t ordinarily have been built had we not had the opportunity for the Games.”
Mr Bleijie noted 2032 was “a fraction of this piece of puzzle”, with Queensland needing to build for beyond the Games.
“We’re talking about generational, transformational infrastructure,” he said.
Construction cost increases have likely added about $1bn to the $7.1bn funding envelope, which could be indexed at $8.1bn.
The reviewers are expected to note while the stadium and arena will be used for four weeks during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, both offer significant legacy benefits to Brisbane.
Saturday’s final report will trigger two weeks of consultation between the state government and the International Olympic Committee, alongside federal and local government stakeholders.
Cabinet will endorse the report on March 24 and the state’s final plan for Games venues will be revealed at The Courier-Mail’s Future Brisbane event the next day.
It will be the final Games plan before construction starts on venues and comes four years and one month after Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the Gabba would be rebuilt for $1bn to host Olympic athletics and the ceremonies.
Originally published as Jarrod Bleijie to ask private sector to help fund 2032 Olympic Games
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