$100m spend to move East Brisbane State School ahead of $2.7bn Gabba rebuild

East Brisbane State School will be moved as work begins on the $2.7bn demolition and rebuild of the Gabba stadium ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

The Palaszczuk government will spend more than $100m relocating a heritage-listed school in Brisbane’s east to make room for the new Gabba stadium.

East Brisbane State School will be moved about 2km as work ­begins on the $2.7bn demolition and rebuild of the Gabba stadium ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

Education Minister Grace Grace on Thursday confirmed a new stand-alone school would be built on the grounds of Coor­paroo Secondary College by 2026, with more than $100m spent on new facilities including a swimming pool.

Heritage-listed buildings at the 124-year-old school will remain and be incorporated into the stadium redevelopment.

Parents have been lobbying to keep the school where it is and abandon plans for a new Gabba with an extra 8000 seats.

East Brisbane State School P&C president Austin Gibbs said the decision to move the school was a “bad outcome”.

“We’re paying billions and billions of dollars to build a slightly bigger sports stadium at the ­expense of a local school, a local park, families and community,” he said. “We’re now going to lose a bit of Brisbane heritage, we’re going to see families that can no longer walk their kids to school and are going to have to get in their cars.”

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

The Greens, which represent the Gabba area at a local, state and federal level, have accused the state government of ignoring community consultation.

South Brisbane MP Amy MacMahon said: “Labor today has thrown our community under the bus, has abandoned everyday families, all in an attempt to ­impress the Olympic Committee and to forge ahead with their wasteful $2.7bn plan to knock down the Gabba.”

Federal Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather urged Anthony Albanese to intervene and withhold Olympic funding until the state reverses its decision.

“The combined population of East Brisbane and Kangaroo Point is 15,800. If this decision is allowed to stand, neither suburb will have a public school, and it is beyond me how either the state or federal government could possibly justify this.”

Ms Grace said the new school was close to the old site. “During the consultation the community made it clear that they want safe and convenient active travel routes to be developed, to explore incorporating artefacts and memorabilia in the designs of the new buildings, and to ensure transport options to coincide with ‘outside school hours care’ hours of operation,” she said.

“We will be working closely with the school community to ­deliver all these things and more.”

A feasibility assessment of a Brisbane Games, published in 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.