‘A check-up from the neck up’: How stadium stoush might seem outside Brisbane

The urban designer who first proposed a stadium for Victoria Park has lamented Premier Steven Miles’ decision to reject the concept.

In his first act as premier, Miles announced a 60-day review of Games venues after sustained criticism of predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk’s captain’s call to rebuild the Gabba cricket and AFL stadium.

Archipelago’s Brisbane Bold proposal. The Quirk report recommended a less ambitious development, including just a stadium in the north-west corner of Victoria Park.Credit: Archipelago

Labor premier Miles appointed former LNP Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk to conduct the review in January. That review came back on Monday morning, with a recommendation for a new, $3.4 billion stadium at Victoria Park, which would replace the Gabba as Brisbane’s major oval stadium post-Games.

Archipelago founding director Peter Edwards said, for four hours on Monday, the city thought it had seen a “moment of leadership” from Queensland’s new premier, only to see that optimism disappear just after lunchtime when Miles rejected the proposal.

Instead, Miles said his government would repurpose the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, the host venue of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, into a 40,000-seat temporary stadium that would mostly be disassembled after the Olympics.

QSAC would be the smallest Olympic stadium in more than a century, since the Amsterdam Games in 1928. There, the main stadium held about 33,000.

“There’s no public transport, no accessibility, no story about legacy,” Edwards said of QSAC.

“Most of the things that we’re going to invest in building we will take away after the Olympics, disassemble that infrastructure, so we’re just going to build a big Meccano set to hold the Olympics.

“Then, after 2032, we’re going to knock it all down, turn around and, what, sell it on Gumtree?”

At a Committee for Brisbane lunch, the organisation’s vice-president Alan Patching asked a panel about the international attention the state government’s troubled venue selection had garnered.

“Are they going to be saying, ‘they might be really good at Bluey, but whoever gave them the Olympics needs a check-up from the neck up’?” he said.

Queensland University of Technology chancellor Ann Sherry, the panel moderator, suggested it did not matter where the stadium was located, only that the Games was a success.

“It won’t be the first time a city who’s hosting the Olympics has a debate about stadia, however … we need to move beyond that and start talking the bigger stuff,” she said.

“Because, at the end of the day, there will be stadia, they’ll be somewhere, everyone may not agree with it, and we’ll work out how we get people in and out of it.”

Miles had defended his decision, saying he was following the advice of International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates.

John Coates, with then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, has long loomed over Brisbane 2032.

Coates has long advocated for the use of existing venues, in line with the IOC’s “New Norm” approach, to avoid host cities being left with unnecessary infrastructure.

Before the government belatedly added a Gabba rebuild to its Games bid, it interpreted the “New Norm” as allowing for an athletics venue of about 50,000 seats, which was more than currently planned.

Coates, who floated the QSAC proposal in media before the Quirk report was released, told The Australian the IOC was “very sensitive to the cost of the Games”.

Edwards said Coates’ motivations did not necessarily align with Brisbane’s needs.

“It’d be great to understand how people like John Coates are actually providing advice to the process, as John Coates’ aspiration for our city is to demonstrate evidence of his new way of delivering the Olympics, which is ‘don’t build anything’,” Edwards said.

“Now, that might be fine for London, Tokyo, Paris, LA – those major cities that have done their growth, but our city has to double in size by 2040.”

The Quirk review estimated the cost of bringing QSAC to Olympic standard to be about $1.6 billion. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said at least $400 million would have to be added to the bill to provide adequate transport.

“Suddenly, you’re getting the numbers adding up,” Schrinner said, after belatedly backing the Victoria Park proposal.

“Is this decision the right one? I’m keen to hear from the wider community on this as well.

“Suddenly you’re getting the numbers adding up”: Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on QSAC.Credit: Jocelyn Garcia

“If we don’t get it right now, we will lose the opportunity.”

Brisbane 2032 strategic engagement manager Rebecca Masci was diplomatic about recent developments, describing it as an “interesting time”.

“There is a very passionate narrative and discourse that’s happening right now, and I also agree that it’s important to have those discussions,” she said.