Brisbane’s opportunity for full makeover before Olympics 2032
Brisbane has been granted a rare opportunity never before offered to an Olympics host city – but we have to act fast.
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Brisbane can secure major infrastructure projects, build a world-class sport and entertainment hub and maintain its unique lifestyle under an Olympic opportunity never before offered to a global city – but there’s no time to waste.
Queensland has been given 11 years to prepare for Australia’s third Olympics – significantly more than the usual six years.
Industry leaders say the state must take this unique opportunity to use the world’s largest sporting event to completely transform the fabric of the city.
A gathering of Queensland’s influential business, media and education sector leaders – hosted by The Courier-Mail and The Sunday-Mail for the Future Brisbane series – has prompted calls for planning to start immediately if Brisbane is to capitalise on the unprecedented opportunities offered by the 2032 Olympic Games.
They urged politicians to be brave and promote big ideas to transform Brisbane while also ensuring Olympics planning was not riddled with politics.
Los Angeles 1984 swimmer Mark Stockwell said Queensland could become the sporting hub of the nation and wider Asia-Pacific region.
“We’ve got to reinvent high-performance sport in this country, we’ve got to think about where the Australian Institute of Sport sits and what is the role government plays,” he said.
“How do we attract a lot of the national sports here to South East Queensland so we become the sporting capital, not only of Australia but the pacific and Asian rim?
“There’s also a great opportunity from a geopolitical point of view for us to engage more with our South Pacific neighbours and help them develop sport.”
Mr Stockwell, Australia’s only triple-medallist at the 1984 Games, said those tasked with planning the 2032 Games needed to engage and educate the nation about its significance.
“You’ve got to have your country behind you and you’ve got to build passion and pride in the green and gold – there’s a magic with the Olympics that inspires,” he said.
“Unless there’s a passion the dream dies.”
Mr Stockwell, Chairman of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, said shocking planning mistakes which were made in 2018 could not be repeated in 2032.
“One of the things we’ve got to be so careful of is the political infighting on who wants to take responsibility,” Mr Stockwell said.
He said the vision of a “world aquatics centre” on the Broadwater at Southport was cut after the state government got involved, while a warm-up athletics track at Carrara was ripped up after the games by the council.
“We put a brand new athletics track down and it got ripped up – we invested a huge amount of money and it got ripped up,” he said.
University of Queensland Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences Professor John Cairney said significant investment in community sport would be paramount to realising the benefits of the Games.
“I’d like every child in Queensland tomorrow to wake up and think about their Olympic journey,” he said.
“Some of them, a very very small number might be on a pathway to a podium or a medal or the Olympic team – but all of them can be on a journey to health and wellbeing.”
There are also calls for the state government to launch a strategic plan to transform Brisbane into the hub of sports technology in Australia.
About 65 per cent of businesses in Australia’s emerging sports technology sector are located in Melbourne, and Capitalb Executive Adviser and Australian Tech Council member Kate Jones said it was time for Brisbane to step up.
“A sports tech hub is absolutely critical, it’s one of the biggest legacies we can have from the Games in Queensland.
“Apart from poaching the Australian Institute of Sport – which we’ve all been talking about – owning a sports tech as our future is absolutely where we should be.”
Ms Jones, a former senior Minister in the Palaszczuk Government said Brisbane faced “a real challenge” following the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics – and called for a “talent incubator” within the government bureaucracy to help deliver the games.
“The thing we really should be focusing on is that knowledge economy,” she said.
“The quality of people in the private sector who choose to be in Brisbane is high, that’s one of our great assets – but who’s joining the public service?
“That is something we should be scared of, coupled with the small-mindedness of some of the political reality of Queensland.”
With 3903 days until the opening ceremony of the Brisbane Olympics, business leaders have called for the state government to appoint members to the 2032 organising committee and ensure bureaucratic red tape does not stifle bold development ideas.
Archipelago Director Peter Edwards said organisers and Queensland residents must realise the challenge and opportunity to transform the city.
“We can demonstrate to the world that when the Olympics is given to a smart, clever, forward-focused city that we can turn around and create something that is the envy of the world – that is our opportunity and it doesn’t come again,” he declared.
Regional Queensland must also be kept at the forefront of Queensland’s Olympic benefits, according to Brisbane Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy.
“It’s incredibly important in both pathways and participation, we can’t forget the bush,” Mr Donaghy, who grew up in Gladstone, said.
“There are wonderful athletes right across Queensland who have had that great opportunity to move to Brisbane and beyond.
“For some of these kids they won’t have to move beyond Brisbane now because of the Olympics.”
Racing Queensland Chairman Steve Wilson said any new infrastructure for the 2032 Games must ensure Brisbane’s unique lifestyle and layout is maintained.
“We’ve got to join things in such a way that doesn’t wreck what’s there,” he said.
Star Entertainment Group Queensland CEO Geoff Hogg – who first visited Brisbane for Expo 88 – said the city must again use a global event to deliver venues and community spaces that had a post-Olympic future.
“What was more significant was you created this destination after the event,” he said of South Bank after Expo.
“What’s the use of the venue later?”
Star Entertainment is currently leading a consortium of developers on the $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf project, which is set to transform the city’s hospitality and tourism offering when it opens in 2023.
Mr Hogg said Brisbane, an inclusive city, already espoused Olympic values.
“We all come together and everyone feels comfortable – it’s the most liveable city in the world it doesn’t matter what your ethnic background is,” he said.
ASM Global CEO Harvey Lister – whose proposed Brisbane Live venue is set to become a centrepiece of the 2032 Games when it hosts swimming – said the state should pause and consider the long-term benefits of each venue.
“Now is the opportunity for governments to stand back, have a look and say here’s what we put in our bid document – let’s just stand back and think about that and make sure what we have at the end of the Olympics is exactly what the city needs for the long term,” he said.
“Every decision should be reconsidered and challenged and thought about again.”
Mr Lister said the Olympic Games provided a licence for Queensland’s politicians to be brave.
“We need to be helping government in the justification for doing things that the people in Brisbane need,” he said
Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said the city would be the “gateway to Australia” after the 2032 Olympics.
“I don’t see the Olympics as the goal in itself, I see it as an enabler to establish Brisbane as a global brand,” he said.
Flight Centre Managing Director Graham Turner said Queensland had the high-quality tourism offerings required to service international tourists.
He said it was vital governments provide a clear plan to recover from Covid-19 and ensure “free enterprise will come to the fore”.
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