AOC president John Coates says Brisbane Olympics would help COVID recovery

Australia’s Olympics guru says an Olympic Games in Brisbane in 2032 could be a vital part of Australia’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

ESCALATING the 2032 Olympics bid can become a “critical part” of Queensland‘s economic recovery after pandemic priorities are dealt with, Olympics boss John Coates says.

Mr Coates said “jobs, economic growth and inspiring the health and wellbeing of all” from involvement in sport’s greatest showpiece was as important as it had ever been with Brisbane’s quest to host in 2032.

2032 Olympics: Bid used to spark QLD economy after COVID-19

State Government says secret survey shows regions back 2032 Olympic Games bid

The Australian Olympic Committee president was on Tuesday offering those powerful words to launch the Parliamentary Friends of the Olympic Movement, a bipartisan forum with two Queensland politicians at the helm to keep rallying support.

Labor’s Federal Member for Moreton Graham Perrett shared the stance of co-chair Bert van Manen, the Liberal Member for Forde, that the “unity it brings through sport” was the Olympic movement’s enduring feature.

Billions of dollars within the flagging economy is not incidental either.

“I have always believed in making necessity a virtue … and there is a need for jobs and growth in the Queensland economy,” Mr Coates said of the ravages of COVID-19.

Mr Coates said not to be spooked by the $4.5 billion price tag for the Olympics.

“Don‘t be put off by the $4.5 billion cost … the International Olympic Committee has already committed $2.5 billion at least (as they have for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics) and the rest will be covered by national sponsorships and ticket sales,” he said.

Mr Perrett won the inaugural Zoom meeting of the Parliamentary Friendship Group on Olympic Day by revealing the boxing kangaroo mascot in his office had been playfully christened “Bert” so “we‘re always working together on 2032 for Australia”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk shrewdly put Brisbane‘s 2032 Olympics plan on pause in public over the past three months while fighting the COVID-19 scourge has been all-consuming just as Mr Coates has seen it that way.

“The three levels of Government we have as partners recognise that 2032, for an Olympics and Paralympics, can be a critical part of the state and national recovery,” Mr Coates said.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates. Picture: Adam Yip

“We are in the continuous dialogue phase with the IOC.

“For Queensland, using existing and temporary sports venues is a principle of the venue masterplan and 85 per cent are existing while bringing forward new road and rail infrastructure is another.”

“When you tell us the moment is right we’ll resume and elevate discussions … and the decision (on the 2032 Olympics host) could be made as early as 2022 or 2023.

Rugby union’s Ballymore has been identified as a potential hockey and training venue for 2032 and is shovel-ready for redevelopment when the State Government matches the $15 million already pledged by the Federal Government.

The South East Queensland Council of Mayors proposed a Games bid to fast-track new roads and rail with a feasibility study which gathered momentum on the back of The Courier-Mail’s Future SEQ campaign.

Ms Palaszczuk was won over by the billions of dollars that would pour into the state economy when she officially announced Queensland‘s bid for the 2032 Games in December and that was before the pandemic rocked jobs and the economic outlook that now both need a panacea.

“We often celebrate the gold, silver and bronze but the resilience we get from the struggle is the great lesson from the Olympics that permeates down through society,” Mr Perrett said.

“Encouraging health and wellbeing is very important with the diabetes tsunami coming.”

Originally published as AOC president John Coates says Brisbane Olympics would help COVID recovery