Games go for federal gold as Gabba rebuild costs double

Costs to demolish and rebuild the Gabba as Brisbane’s marquee Olympics venue have more than doubled in two years to $2.7bn ­despite adding just 8000 more seats.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Brisbane to ink a 2032 Olympic Games funding deal with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

Costs to demolish and rebuild the Gabba as Brisbane’s marquee Olympics venue have more than doubled in two years to $2.7bn ­despite adding just 8000 more seats.

Prime Minister Anthony ­Albanese flew to Brisbane on Friday to ink a funding deal with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, which revealed the original $5bn infrastructure price tag for the 2032 Games had jumped to $7bn.

The Gabba rebuild, first estimated in 2021 to cost $1bn, has blown out to $2.7bn, and will be paid for by the state government.

Ms Palaszczuk blamed the rise on increased commodity prices and said funding was justified as the stadium would be “a legacy” and used throughout the year.

“This (cost increase) is not unusual, this is happening with projects all around the world,” she said.

Under the deal, the commonwealth will chip in $3.5bn, including $2.5bn for a new 17,000-seat arena in Brisbane’s CBD.

The Brisbane Arena will have a pool temporarily installed for the Games and later will be converted to a live entertainment venue. It is expected to be government-owned and privately operated, with global entertainment company Live Nation and Harvey Lister’s ASM Global considered frontrunners.

The funding arrangement is just shy of a 50-50 split agreed to by the previous federal government and will pay for 16 new and upgraded venues across Brisbane and regional Queensland.

The federal share of the funding will be significantly more than its contribution to the Sydney 2000 Games, where it spent $150m towards infrastructure

Mr Albanese said Brisbane 2032 would have “enormous” economic benefits for the state and nation. “I know as a Sydneysider the difference that a Games can make,” he said.

“Here in Queensland, this will consolidate this great city as a global city, as a global powerhouse.”

 

Ms Palaszczuk said excluding infrastructure projects, the Games would still be cost-neutral, with organisation costs to be offset by ticket sales and sponsorship.

The historic East Brisbane State School, adjacent to the Gabba, will be closed and its heritage-listed buildings incorporated in the new stadium.

“The Gabba has hosted sport for more than a century and is home to cricket and AFL most weeks of the year,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “But it’s no secret that Queensland is losing out on major sporting events already – and the tourism, jobs and investment that come with them because the Gabba is not up to scratch. It must be upgraded to maintain our competitiveness for international sport and events.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese inspects an artist’s impression of Brisbane Olympic Games infrastructure with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

State opposition deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie said the LNP supported the Olympics but questioned why Gabba costs had grown so much in a short period.

“When the Premier announces $1bn you would think they would have done some homework behind it rather than a few scratches on the back of an envelope,” he said.

The Greens, which represent the Gabba area at local, state and federal level, argue the rebuild was “deeply unpopular and would destroy a local, heritage-listed state school and public park”.

South Brisbane MP Amy MacMahon said $2.7bn was “an obscene waste of public money”.

“For that spend we could get over 6000 public homes, 100 schools across the state, 130 maternity units across the state or we could pay for free public transport for eight years,” she said.

A feasibility assessment of a Brisbane Games, published in February 2021, shows the IOC using the existing 40,000-seat Gabba for ceremonies and the existing 40,000-seat Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast for athletics. The IOC also suggested using the existing Gold Coast Commonwealth Games aquatic centre to stage the swimming, instead of the new Brisbane Arena.