Queensland Premier Steven Miles hits ‘start again’ on 2032 Brisbane Olympics

Two major Brisbane Olympic venues will be probed and potentially axed as part of a 60-day infrastructure review launched by Queensland Premier Steven Miles.

Plans to demolish and rebuild the Gabba as Brisbane’s marquee Olympics venue will be probed and potentially axed as part of a 60-day infrastructure review launched by Queensland Premier Steven Miles.

Mr Miles conceded the state government may have been wrong to proceed with the project, which has already blown out by 170 per cent on preliminary costings to $2.7bn.

The review, headed by former Brisbane LNP lord mayor Graham Quirk, will also scrutinise the federally funded Brisbane Arena, which was to be built above a busy CBD railway station.

Acknowledging the growing infrastructure spend for the Brisbane 2032 Games had become “divisive”, Mr Miles said the review was to ensure taxpayers got the best “value for money”.

As the minister responsible for overseeing Olympic infrastructure under former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Mr Miles had repeatedly defended the Gabba rebuild but on Thursday said his “preference” was for the independent panel to find a better alternative.

“I signed off on an option that was consistently advised was the best outcome,” he said. “Now I’m saying I would like new advice, I would like independent advice.

“I think it’s a good thing that a leader is willing to say ‘maybe we got that wrong’, ‘can someone else take a look’. And that’s what I’m doing.”

Mr Miles said he had harboured concerns about escalating costs to demolish and rebuild the Gabba – which have already skyrocketed from $1bn to an estimated $2.7bn – but was advised by his department that it was still the best option.

“But I’ve heard since then that Queenslanders are concerned about that level of expense. I certainly am too,” he said.

“There were several stages last year where I sent my department out and said ‘find me new options’ and the options that came back were not as good. I’m hopeful that this independent review process, this fresh set of eyes with a very specific focus on value for money, can come back to us with options or with an option that is better value for money.”

The Queensland government had already begun exploring alternative sites for the Brisbane Arena last year amid mounting concern the project could not be built over the city’s Roma Street n station for the $2.5bn price tag.

Construction of the 17,000-seat auditorium, earmarked to host Olympic swimming in a drop-in pool, is technically challenging and market sounding of contractors has raised potentially costly problems.

Brisbane Arena is being funded by the federal government, but the commonwealth’s contribution is capped so any cost overruns would likely fall on the state.

Alternative sites being considered are a riverside factory lot ­acquired from Visy Industries in West End, and a block of state land in the top corner of the Roma Street parklands.

Mr Miles said findings from the department’s review would be handed to the new independent panel. “If they determine that there are better locations for the arena, they will certainly have the purview to consider whether there are better value locations for the arena,” the Premier said.

Mr Quirk, who served as Brisbane lord mayor from 2011 until 2019 and was central to the original Olympics push, will deliver the findings of his review to the government on March 18.

His terms of reference will be to assess infrastructure investment against “key criteria” including value for money, community legacy, deliverability and fitness for purpose.

“The one thing that I’m probably most concerned about, is that we need to start making decisions,” he said. “I am very conscious that time is ticking.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the review had his “full support”.

“This is something that should be uniting Queenslanders, uniting people behind this great opportunity for our state,” he said.