John Coates’ actions ‘odd’, says Olympics review boss

Controversy flares over what Olympics supremo John Coates didn’t tell an independent review of 2032 Games venues in Brisbane.

Olympic powerbroker John Coates in the AOC offices in Sydney. John Feder/The Australian.

Olympics powerbroker John Coates blindsided the independent review of venue options for Brisbane 2032 when he went ­public with the plan to repurpose a near 50-year-old stadium as the Games’ athletics hub.

Former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk, who led the investigation, said he thought it “odd” that Mr Coates had mentioned the scheme only in passing – if at all – during a three-hour session with panel members.

They did not realise the International Olympic Committee vice-president was serious about the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre until he came out in The Courier-Mail on February 8 calling for the 1982 Commonwealth Games stadium to be revamped for the Olympics.

The Quirk review costed the upgrade at up to $1.6bn, concluding this did not provide value for money and was “hard to justify”.

Graham Quirk led the review of Brisbane 2032 Games venues. Picture: Ali Kuchel

But Premier Steven Miles on Monday rejected the finding and went with Mr Coates’ plan for QSAC over the panel’s recommendation that a new $3.4bn Olympic stadium be built on the CBD fringe at Victoria Park.

“The panel was concerned when there was a public position stated by John Coates not long into our deliberations,” Mr Quirk told The Australian.

“It didn’t compromise in any way our position, but we thought it odd that a position would be stated so early in our process of investigation.”

Mr Quirk declined to be drawn further, and Mr Coates could not be contacted on Tuesday.

In state parliament, Mr Miles said the venue reboot relied on the “submission” Mr Coates had made to the review panel and he stood by the decision to adopt it. “That is because, speaking as a representative of the IOC, he (Mr Coates) could be clear about what the requirements for an Olympic and Paralympic Games would be,” the Premier said.

“He wanted to be clear that we did not need a new $3.4bn stadium and that we could deliver the Games with our existing ­stadiums.”

Buoyed by last weekend’s by-elections where it captured the once-safe Labor seat of Ipswich West and attracted a 21 per cent swing in former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s stronghold of Inala, the Liberal National Party is keeping open the option of tearing up the plan if it wins the state election in October. Newspoll shows the LNP is on track to do so convincingly.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has not supported or opposed any option for Brisbane’s main stadium, and he told parliament on Tuesday an LNP government would let the planned independent infrastructure agency make decisions about Olympic venues.

The agency was promised in the Queensland government-led bid to the IOC for the 2032 Games, but axed by Ms Palaszczuk, who brought the responsibilities in-house. On succeeding her last ­December, Mr Miles reversed that decision – though the new body is not expected to be up and running until mid-year at the earliest.

Labor turned the heat up on Mr Crisafulli to declare whether he supported or would oppose its revised venue model, which also involved scrapping a $3bn rebuild of the Gabba stadium and relocating the pricey Brisbane Arena from its proposed site at Roma Street railway station in the CBD to nearby parklands. Mr Quirk found the cost of the commonwealth-funded arena would have blown out from $2.5bn to $4bn if it had remained where it was.

“If you want this job you better put your big boy pants on and learn how to make a decision,” Mr Miles said.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Queensland Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Describing Mr Quirk’s recommendation for a new $3.4bn stadium at Victoria Park as a “vanity project”, Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick accused Mr Crisafulli of “hiding behind an independent review”.

Labor MP Mark Bailey posted a photo of Mr Quirk and Mr Crisafulli on Twitter, accusing the LNP leader of hiding his position on the $3.4bn Victoria Park stadium “after former LNP Lord Mayor Quirk recommended it”.

Mr Quirk told The Australian he agreed to conduct the review for Mr Miles “on the basis it would be independent”.

“The panel was unanimous and all of the recommendations we made were evidence-based,” he said.

“The politics will play out, but it doesn’t change what we recommended.”

Former Liberal lord mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, who served when Brisbane hosted a transformational World Expo in 1988 and guided the city’s unsuccessful 1992 Olympic bid, said residents were probably “bewildered” by the changing venue plan and host of new infrastructure projects being constructed around the city. She also said it was “tempting” to think the first three years of Olympic planning had been wasted.

“But I don’t want to be a pessimist and I think it’s good that we’ve got lots of ideas put forward,” Ms Atkinson said

“I think it’s absolutely imperative that the leaders of all three levels of government sit down ­together and decide what they want – it can’t be up to one or the other. We have to look at what is going to be best for Brisbane after the Games.”