Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games: Queensland government accepts deal with Canberra to fund venues won’t be topped up

The Queensland government has accepted that a $7.1bn deal with Canberra to fund 2032 Olympic venues cannot be topped up, sounding the deathknell of the showpiece Brisbane Arena.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli

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The Queensland government has accepted that a $7.1bn deal with Canberra to fund 2032 Olympic venues cannot be topped up, likely sounding the death knell for the showpiece Brisbane Arena.

The $2.5bn-plus hall is set to be axed or held over until after the Games when Premier David Crisafulli on Tuesday unveils his plan for events sites. The recommendations of a 100-day review into the stalled program and the state Liberal ­National Party government’s ­response are seen as ­critical to ­reviving momentum in the planning process.

As reported by The Australian, Mr Crisafulli is expected to abandon a state election pledge and embrace a new, $3.5bn-plus ­stadium at Victoria Park on the northern fringe of the Brisbane CBD. But interest will focus on how many other venues are cancelled, delayed or pushed out of the capital, including the planned 17,000-seat arena, earmarked for the Olympic swimming.

The Australian understands that the capped $2.5bn of federal funding for the new hall will be redirected to the stadium and other Olympic venues under the state plan in a bid to keep the spend within the $7.1bn envelope agreed in the 2023 cost-sharing agreement between the state and federal governments. Under this arrangement, Queensland has carriage of delivering the facilities, mostly in upgraded form.

It is understood the federal government would not budge on increasing its contribution above the roughly 50 per cent funding share negotiated by Anthony ­Albanese and then Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Mr Crisafulli has emphasised that spending on venues must be held within that agreed limit.

This also reflects concern by both governments that the $3.5bn-plus price of the Victoria Park stadium, projected last year in a separate investigation of the venues program by former LNP mayor of Brisbane Graham Quirk, will blow out as construction costs continue to escalate.

Sources said the federal government wanted “more detail” on the state plan before it agreed to transfer its funding commitment for Brisbane Arena to the stadium and potentially other venues.

An artists impression of the proposed Brisbane Arena. The new major event venue will be one of two Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics aquatic venues.

“The drive is to keep the funding envelope to $7.1bn but there needs to be more detail on the changes,’’ a federal source said.

The state government is understood to have provided a letter outlining its plan to federal ­Infrastructure Minister Catherine King. On Monday afternoon, the Crisafulli cabinet met to endorse the plan, which has been tightly held and developed by Mr Crisafulli and his deputy, State Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie.

Addressing the media alongside Mr Albanese in Canberra on Monday, Mr Crisafulli said the state government still aimed to deliver “generational infrastructure” through the 2032 Olympics.

Asked if the federal funds could be directed away from the auditorium to other projects, he said: “We’ve got a plan to make sure that we do host great Games when the eyes of the world are on us. And I want people to understand that … there’s been a long time since we were awarded the Games, but I do believe we’ve got a plan that can get the show back on the road.”

Mr Crisafulli’s comments came as international concert promoter and venue developer Live Nation affirmed its interest in developing Brisbane Arena as a public-private partnership with the Queensland government.

“Our consortium remains committed to delivering a world-class Brisbane Arena with a commercial model that substantially minimises government investment, allowing for reallocation to other critical Olympic infrastructure and eliminating taxpayer risk,” the multinational company said. “This framework places the Live Nation-led consortium in charge of securing global tours, driving economic growth and ­establishing Brisbane as a premier entertainment destination for decades beyond the Olympics, with a strong emphasis on private sector responsibility.”

The proposed Victoria Park precinct. Picture: Archipelago Architects

In dumping Brisbane Arena, Mr Crisafulli would be going against the recommendations of the board of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority that he commissioned to conduct the 100-day venues review under his hand-picked chair, Stephen Conry.

It is understood that the GIICA board strongly backed construction of the hall as a key legacy of the Games.

It was unclear, however, whether the state government had now walked away from the development or would postpone it until after the tournament on the site recommended by the auth­ority – adjacent to the ageing Gabba cricket and AFL ground.

It is expected that the Olympic swimming will go to a new aquatic centre on the site of the existing Centenary Pool at inner-city Spring Hill, five minutes’ walk from the stadium site in Victoria Park. This would also accommodate diving, water polo and artistic swimming events, with seating for the competitive swimming expanded to nearly 20,000 by temporary stands constructed in wings around the pool, according to a $600m plan advanced by Swimming Australia. But a source said the GIICA review had not ­endorsed it as an alternative venue for the swimming, and ­suspected the price tag was ­“underestimated”.

The government is understood to have decided to increase the regional involvement in hosting a number of sports in the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

Sources said the Olympic hockey will be moved to the Gold Coast after originally being slated to be held in Brisbane, at the former rugby union headquarters of Ballymore. Sailing events, which were going to be split between waters off Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Townsville, will now be held in north Queensland.

Cross River Rail site opposite the Gabba which may become the home of the Brisbane Arena for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The basketball, which was to be largely held in Brisbane, will now have its preliminary games on the Gold Coast, with the final to be staged at the Boondall Entertainment Centre.

The Queensland Premier pledged prior to last October’s state election that the LNP government would not fund a new stadium for the Olympics, ­presenting him with a tricky sell for Victoria Park.

The stadium saga sapped public confidence in planning for the Games. In securing the 2032 hosting rights from the International Olympic Committee nearly four years ago, Ms Palaszcuk proposed that the Gabba be rebuilt as the main Olympic stadium, to host the track and field competition as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, only for the plan to be scrapped when she handed over to her then deputy, Steven Miles, in December 2023, in the face of a 170 per cent cost blowout.

Mr Miles promptly ditched the key finding of Mr Quirk, whom he had appointed as head of a review panel into the venues program, for the Victoria Park stadium. Instead, Mr Miles embraced a cheaper but deeply contested counter proposal by IOC powerbroker John Coates to recycle the 1982 Commonwealth Games ­stadium at suburban Nathan for the Olympics.

Mr Crisafulli, in turn, ditched this option.

Additional reporting: Andrew McMillen.