Editorial: After 1343 wasted days it’s time to let our Games begin

Our Games must be delivered by an immovable deadline, so the time for political dillydallying is well and truly over, writes the editor.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner flanked by then Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and federal sport minister Richard Colbeck as Brisbane is awarded the Games in Tokyo in 2021.

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After 1343 wasted days, today must be the day that Brisbane’s Olympic and Paralympic Games planning gets back on track – when Premier David Crisafulli unveils his venues master plan at The Courier-Mail’s Future Brisbane lunch event.

This master plan will no doubt be imperfect. We expect the Premier to have broken his election campaign promise to not build a new stadium. We expect him to be demanding the federal government reallocate its funding, without their agreement. And we expect a fair bit of regional electorate pork-barrelling. None of these are amazing outcomes.

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But our Games must be delivered by an immovable deadline of Friday night, July 23 2032 – and so the time for political dillydallying is well and truly over. We simply do not have the days left to keep debating what is being proposed. We must start constructing the stages on which the world’s best athletes will deliver the greatest show on earth in seven years and four months from now. To not do so is to risk Queensland becoming a global laughing stock; to join Athens from 2004 in the hall of infamy for host cities that were not ready on time.

And so all Queenslanders must be willing to support the Premier’s plan, warts and all – for the sake of our state’s global reputation.

Mr Crisafulli is the third premier to have his say on these matters. All have taken different approaches.

Premier David Crisafulli (right) with his deputy and Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie

On the big decision of where to build the required stadium (which the sports of Aussie rules and cricket will use post-Games) we have now seen three very different proposals.

Annastacia Palaszczuk wanted it at a rebuilt Gabba, Steven Miles eyed off a new venue at the site of the old QEII Stadium where the 1982 Commonwealth Games were held, while Mr Crisafulli is now understood to favour building a stadium at inner-city Victoria Park.

By virtue of him being in the chair when the music stops, Mr Crisafulli is the one who gets to make that final call – and Victoria Park is workable, in that at least it is a site within an easy walking distance of the central business district and with options for how to plug it into the public transport network.

Ignore those who loudly claim this will tear out the lungs of the city. The footprint for a stadium will hardly make a dent on the huge park, which until a few years ago was locked away as a golf course.

Having a stadium in the park will actually ensure more people get to experience its unique inner-city beauty – with stunning views back towards the CBD’s skyscrapers.

Premiers Palaszczuk and Miles believed Roma St to be the best location for a new inner-city arena – think entertainment centre – where the swimming would be contested in 2032, leaving our capital with a world-class, 17,000-seat indoor venue right in the heart of the CBD for concerts and other events.

Mr Crisafulli is understood to prefer a site across the road from the Gabba, and believes the private sector can be convinced to deliver an arena at minimal taxpayer cost – freeing up money for a permanent national aquatics centre near his new stadium. The Prime Minister has not yet agreed, and will stick with his plan to guarantee an arena is built with $2.5bn of federal funds. That impasse could last for months.

The other big story out of today will no doubt be Premier Crisafulli’s determination to have a number of medal sports contested outside of the southeast corner, such as the rowing in the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton – crocs and all.

We expect World Rowing to not be alone among international sporting federations unhappy about their event being held hundreds of kilometres away from the host city. How all of that plays out will be an ongoing international story leading into 2032.

Expect more surprises today, too – including what is likely to be a fair bit of local nest-feathering by the man who has developed the venues master plan for Mr Crisafulli, the Deputy Premier, Infrastructure Minister and Sunshine Coast-based MP Jarrod Bleijie. The Gold Coast will also win big.

We fully anticipate today’s plan will not line up with what has been recommended by the 100-day review of venues conducted by Mr Bleijie’s hand-picked experts, which will also be publicly released today.

These discrepancies will no doubt be raked over, and we will hear more – justified – accusations of politicians ignoring what is best and instead making political decisions.

But here’s the prediction with the shortest odds; today’s plan will not be the one we end up with in 2032.

That said, we must get moving on the big calls – to ensure we have the time to do what we need to get done.

Fully one-third of that extended runway the International Olympic Committee gave us in mid-2021 is gone. We have just 2677 days now until the curtain goes up on the opening ceremony in a stadium that is very much not yet built.

When Sydney won its bid for the 2000 Games on September 24, 1993 there were 2548 days to go until its opening ceremony. On August 1 this year, our runway into 2032 will be exactly the same. We must crack on, from today. We have no choice.

That is why if you believe in our state then you should join a unity ticket and back in this plan. It will not be perfect, but nothing ever is.

The time for talking is over. It is time to finally let our Games begin.

Originally published as Editorial: After 1343 wasted days it’s time to let our Games begin