Olympic rivalry a national sport

Sibling rivalry certainly is a thing for federations as well as families. Where Sydney and Melbourne can compete on size and status, it can be argued fairly that there is no contest when it comes to harbour views.

But, as Noel Pearson points out on Saturday in Inquirer, Brisbane can be considered very much a younger sister or brother trying to muscle in on the action with its Olympic aspirations. It’s a bit like the New Zealand complex of living in the shadow of antipodean greatness.

Having a crack at the neighbours is all good fun, but Mr Pearson may have a point. It is difficult to place Brisbane in the context of the world’s other great cities that have held an Olympic Games. London, Los Angeles, Paris, Beijing, Moscow, Rio and Berlin represent company in which Sydney and Melbourne can hold their own. But Brisbane is the smallest host city alongside St Louis, Missouri, which held the Olympic flame in 1904.

When international visitors think of Queensland they are likelier to envision the Great Barrier Reef than the Story Bridge. Then again, this may be the point. No doubt, Brisbane is a great place to live, with friendly residents and within easy striking distance of the Gold and Sunshine coasts. And its maturing from a big country town to a major metropolis can be traced to the 1988 World Expo. This event opened the city to the world and kickstarted the development of South Bank, which helped put the Brisbane River at the centre of its city identity.

But the basis on which Brisbane won the 2032 Olympics was for a cut-down, cut-price version that did not require billions of dollars to be spent on new infrastructure. That is certainly not the case today with plans for new stadiums and a tight construction timetable.

As Mr Pearson notes, Queensland has many more pressing issues to deal with across the coming decade: declining health, education, housing and infrastructure to meet a growing population. He is correct to say a city or state cannot live by bread and circuses alone. This week’s Queensland budget set out the parlous position of the state’s economy, which is sliding deeper into debt. Despite what the dreamers may say, the Olympics will never be a financial solution to these ills.

Ironically, Mr Pearson’s suggestion for an Australian Games would deliver on the promises made to the International Olympic Committee for a more financially sustainable competition using existing facilities.

If they were not coming from a Queenslander, Mr Pearson’s observations might seem elitist or overly judgmental, particularly the claim that Brisbane is not a cosmopolitan city, it is provincial and quite monocultural, with growing but still small multicultural communities reflective of modern Australia. A Brisbane resident may argue the numbers tell the story and those numbers are the many refugees from Melbourne wanting to call the Sunshine State home.

Brisbane is a great place, and no doubt it will do a great job, but the question lingers: Is it the best place, with the means and political nous to do the best job? Would a national Games hosted by the three eastern state capitals be a better option?