New Olympics board will consider rowing alternatives

Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games organisers will explore contingencies should the governing bodies for rowing and canoe events decide the planned Fitzroy River course in Rockhampton is unsuitable for competition.

The revelation from Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris came as he prepared to host the first meeting of the new, pared-back organising committee board in the city’s CBD on Thursday.

“It’s amazing how, a year ago, we were arguing about stadiums and what would happen with the stadium, and now we seem to be arguing and having this conversation on rowing – we’re always going to have something,” he told this masthead.

Andrew Liveris hosted the first meeting of the new Brisbane 2032 board on Thursday.Credit: Steve Pohlner

“I’d like to remind everyone that LA was still debating venues until about six months ago. Paris was debating them until a year before, so it’s the nature of the beast that the OCOG [Organising Committee for the Olympic Games] will have to very much be nimble on creating alternatives in case some of these venues don’t work out.”

Liveris said the delivery plan handed down by the state government in March solved “80-to-90 per cent” of venue issues and while the committee was “working to make Rocky work” it would have to also consider contingencies should World Rowing and the International Canoe Federation deem the Fitzroy River course unsuitable.

“The idea that it may not turn out is a very big debated subject, because GIICA came out with Penrith,” he said, referring to the Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority’s recommendation in its 100-day review to host rowing in western Sydney.

“But this government in particular – and I understand why – says, ‘no, I want it in Queensland’.

“And you’ve got [Gold Coast] Mayor [Tom] Tate talking about Hinze Dam, and you’ve got all sorts of possibilities.

“There are possibilities outside of Rocky but what the OCOG will do – and we have a whole team of people in venues upstairs in our offices – what they will do is follow and track the technical evaluations.

“The good news about rowing is we have plenty of time. Unlike the stadium, where we had to get moving this one, we have plenty of time.”

On that stadium, Liveris was standing metres away from Simon Crooks on Wednesday when the incoming GIICA chief executive said he wanted to start excavation in Victoria Park as soon as possible.

“He’s an engineer’s engineer, so that shovel in the grounds comment he made yesterday, absolutely [music to my ears],” Liveris said.

Liveris’s sit-down with this masthead about half an hour before the new-look board’s first meeting in the Brisbane 2032 offices in an inner-city riverside tower at noon.

The Brisbane 2032 president said the focus would be on the committee’s transition from the planning to the implementation stage.

“From vision and emblems and brand, to additional sports and fitting sports to venues – all those things are the next 18 months or so, we need a board structure that is nimble, agile, and can make decisions,” Liveris said.

“Then we’ll get multi-stakeholder representation by having advisory groups, and that is a very traditional structure, but the board itself will be much more of a functional decision-making board.”

Liveris said the streamlined structure, which saw the board reduced from 24 to 15, would allow it to more quickly respond to issues and make important decisions on critical Games issues.

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