Private investment firms express interest in funding 2032 Olympic Games build

Private infrastructure developers have offered to take the pressure off taxpayers to fund venues and infrastructure for Brisbane 2032.

The Gabba stadium in Brisbane.

Two multibillion-dollar infrastructure developers have expressed interest in Brisbane Olympics projects, potentially creating the means to fund a new stadium for the 2032 Games.

The intervention by the Plenary group and, separately, Tetris Capital raises the question of why the private sector hasn’t been tapped to finance venue construction. Instead, taxpayers will stump up at least $7.1bn to build or upgrade sports grounds and halls for the world’s best athletes to compete in Australia’s third Olympics and second Paralympics.

Tetris principal Ryan Slocombe said the $3bn company was running the ruler over the proposed AFL stadium build in Hobart and the “iconic assets” planned for Brisbane 2032 could be delivered by public-private partnerships.

“We’d have interest in partnering with Queensland for the delivery of Games assets, and would look to participate if delivered through a PPP or similar option,” he said. “Similarly with the stadium in Tasmania.”

Plenary managing director Sergio Calcarao told The Weekend Australian: “Procuring key Olympics infrastructure via long-term, bundled contracts will provide more certainty around on-time delivery and costs, great innovations in the finished product and better whole-of-life value than more short-term procurement methods.

“This will ultimately provide better value to taxpayers with an asset that will deliver a lasting legacy for Queenslanders. Plenary and its partners remain interested, and there will be strong interest from other local and international companies wanting to … be part of a competitive process if the opportunity allows.”

The third anniversary this weekend of Brisbane bringing home the Games with its successful 2021 bid to the International Olympic Committee will focus renewed attention on the troubled infrastructure and venue program amid concern it is drifting ahead of October’s state election.

Polling for The Courier-Mail this week showed Steven Miles’ Labor government faces comprehensive defeat by the Liberal National Party under David Crisafulli, who has pledged to review project decisions if he wins.

While Mr Crisafulli joined the Premier in rejecting the option of building a new $3.4bn Olympic stadium at Victoria Park in Brisbane’s inner north, former mayor Graham Quirk believes the plan could still be pursued by an LNP government.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles at the Gabba. Picture: NewsWire / Dan Peled

Mr Quirk, an LNP stalwart, was commissioned by Mr Miles to head an independent evaluation of the program that backed the Victoria Park stadium. The government rejected this in March in favour of recycling the near 50-year-old Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre stadium at suburban Nathan used in the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

On Victoria Park, Mr Quirk said: “I don’t think that anything is particularly dead at this stage … it’s all going to come down to government rule at the end of the day.

“I think it’s pretty clear that there is a public view that Victoria Park should go ahead. But it is a matter for government to determine ultimately.”

State Development and Infrastructure Minister Grace Grace insisted there would be no new stadium built at Victoria Park or anywhere else before the Games.

Mr Miles has said the expense could not be justified. Doubling down, Ms Grace branded the proposed parkland site wholly unsuitable: people would not walk 800m to the nearest train station and the required warm-up track for athletes would occupy too much green space, she said.

An artist's impression of Brisbane Arena configured for the 2032 Olympics.

But she said the government welcomed potential private funding of Olympic infrastructure and she would be prepared to consider any PPP proposals. Plenary is part of a consortium that has expressed interest in delivering the proposed 18,000-seat Brisbane Arena earmarked to host swimming in 2032 – now funded by the federal government in a $2.5bn commitment – provided the deal also involved long-term management rights to operate the hall.

But Ms Grace said OCOG, the Games organising committee, looked at private involvement in the venue and infrastructure build and the “numbers don’t stack up”.

Deputy LNP leader and Games infrastructure spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said the scope of its planned post-election project review would not extend to a new stadium. Nor would the LNP allow existing state-owned grounds including the Gabba and Suncorp Stadium to be privatised.

Asked if the LNP had had discussions with private concerns such as Plenary or Tetris Capital, Mr Bleijie was non-committal.

“Queenslanders will have the chance to put forward ideas to the 100-day review,” he said. “If Labor had consulted in the first place, we would not have had these Olympic-sized contract bungles.”

OCOG president Andrew Liveris said, as a general principle, there was a role for private sector investment in developing Games infrastructure. Pointing to the premium organisers of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles had placed on private investment, and delivery of Perth’s $1.6bn Optus Stadium as a PPP, he said: “Goodwill is a great return for the public, but it’s a horrible return for investors. So an investor has to be confident they can absolutely … pull that off.”