2032 Brisbane Olympic Games: Stadium bid to end years of turmoil

The Crisafulli government has been forced to embrace the ambitious plan to build a new $3.785bn stadium at Victoria Park, ending five tumultous years of political buck-passing.

Brisbane Arena concept study by Noel Robinson Architect and HKS. Picture - Supplied

The Queensland government has embraced the ambitious plan to build a new $3.785bn stadium at Victoria Park in the heart of Brisbane as the centrepiece venue of the city’s Olympic Games plan.

The decision ends a tumultuous five years of confusion and political buck-passing over where the main stadium should go, ­rejecting the Gabba as an option to host the athletics and closing and opening ceremonies. However, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli was forced to concede that he had broken an election promise that the Liberal National Party state government would not ­approve such a facility.

“I am sorry, and it’s my decision, and I accept that decision,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“I did believe we had time, and some of the best people in infrastructure delivery have said we don’t. I can’t run the risk of a venue not being ready on the world stage. That would be something we couldn’t recover from.”

The proposed 63,000-seat stadium is also intended to replace the ageing Gabba as the permanent home of the AFL and cricket in Brisbane. Mr Crisafulli said the Games would be a “swan song” for the inner-southside venue.

“The vision our government has beyond the Games also includes the Gabba coming down to make way for urban renewal beside a world-class arena,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be amazing to see the Australian cricket team win gold at an Olympic final, the Gabba’s swan song?”

The Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority’s 100-day Olympic venue review, led by former property industry executive Stephen Conry, suggested the new Victoria Park stadium would become “the heart of the city”.

Brisbane’s beloved Gabba will make way as part of the development.

GIICA found there was “overwhelming support” for the stadium despite the government’s reluctance to proceed with the project. In addition, there was insufficient time to demolish and rebuild the Gabba.

The authority also found Victoria Park’s proximity to the new Cross River Rail station at the nearby Brisbane showgrounds, the Brisbane Metro Busway and other transport linkages recommended the site in a 64ha park on the northern lip of the CBD.

Brisbane Lions chief executive Greg Swann said the Gabba was “tired and old” and the Lions’ 75,000 members would be “thrilled” that a new stadium would be built at Victoria Park. The reigning AFL premiers are an anchor tenant at the Gabba and pay the state government hefty rent to use the ground.

“We’ve outgrown the Gabba, we sell it out every week,” Mr Swann said.

Brisbane Olympics organising committee president Andrew Liveris said “bold decisions” were needed to showcase the city, with the extra seats across Victoria Park and other new venues offering a new opportunity to generate more revenue.

“We can actually go after revenue optimisation,” Mr Liveris said. “This is really terrific, not just the stadium, but the aquatics, the tennis; these are all extra seats. The ability for us to now optimise on the revenue side and then the cost side is available.”

However, the plan has been condemned by the state Labor ­opposition, the Greens, and community groups, which argue that the land should remain parklands for future generations.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles said the Premier must now own his plan and “get on with it”.

“It’s up to him to explain why he lied to Queenslanders when he knew the truth, and it’s up to him to explain the plan that they’ve developed and make sure that Queenslanders can see the full business case, the full detail, the full transport planning, that’s on him,” Mr Miles said.

Local federal MP for the Greens-held seat of Brisbane, Stephen Bates, labelled the decision “extremely disappointing”, adding any infrastructure built for the Games should be kept in public hands. “This is a private developer’s dream,” he said. “They are being handed over swathes and swathes of prime inner-city land for basically next to nothing.” The Gabba Stadium was earmarked as the main stadium for the Games in Queensland’s initial bid to the International Olympic Committee in 2021. Then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk initially said the stadium would cost $1bn to bring it up to standards in terms of access and amenity offering. However, that was later proven unsubstantiated and revised up to $2.7bn.

After Ms Palaszczuk resigned in December 2021, her successor, Mr Miles, ordered a review led by former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk. The probe supported the stadium being relocated to Victoria Park at a cost of $3bn-$3.4bn. This recommendation was rejected by Mr Miles, who instead backed the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in suburban Nathan as the main venue.