Editorial: Billion-dollar Gabba reno a harebrained folly

The decision to not build a new venue for cricket and AFL, and instead bring the Gabba up to modern building standards, will leave Queensland literally last in the nation, writes The Editor.

The absolute harebrained folly of Premier Steven Miles’s latest plan for Brisbane’s stadiums is exposed by today’s revelations that it will cost up to $1bn to simply keep the Gabba from falling down – with a 10 per cent reduction in capacity.

Mr Miles’s decision to not build a new venue for cricket and AFL, and instead bring the Gabba up to modern building standards, will leave Queensland literally last in the nation when it comes to oval-shaped venues for concerts and for sport – behind Adelaide, Perth and even Hobart. And Queenslanders will get to pay $1bn for the honour!

It is bizarre, sort-sighted, stupid. Considering the government will this year collect at least $22bn in revenue, it is also the equivalent of a household with a $220,000 annual income deciding to spend $10,000 restumping the house – and losing a bedroom in the process – rather than spending $30,000 rebuilding the entire thing and ending up with a brand new bigger home that also now has a pool. It boggles the mind.

The good news is Mr Miles is turning popular opinion around – just not in the way he was hoping.

His ridiculous decision to dump plans for a new stadium for sports that people actually turn up to watch in favour of a far smaller track and field venue at the site of the state’s existing athletics centre – and to bill taxpayers another $1.6bn for that plan alone – has convinced more Queenslanders of the need to invest in a brand new stadium.

This stadium would not be for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032. The International Olympic Committee would certainly use the stadium for its event in 2032, but this new venue would be for the people of Queensland – a place where for a generation to come they would gather to watch AFL, cricket, Taylor Swift and Coldplay.

It would cost about $3.5bn. And sure, that is a number not to be sneezed at. But that is because governments deal in big numbers.

Premier Steven Miles (front) and Treasurer Cameron Dick at the Gabba

But to use that same household income analogy again – assuming the new stadium build takes four years, its $3.5bn cost would be the equivalent of that same household taking a mortgage on a new home that they repay at just $169 a week – and have it fully paid off in just four years. Imagine!

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner is right when he says it’s all crazy and that he is gobsmacked that we are spending $1bn on the Gabba to get 4000 fewer seats.

Mr Schrinner is also right to keep talking about what a bad idea the new $1.6bn athletics venue at Nathan is, in terms of both legacy and value for taxpayer dollar.

The 40,000-seat temporary stadium that Premier Miles now wants would only host the track and field events, and be reduced to a 14,000-seat venue after the Games.

It would mean Brisbane’s athletics stadium would be the smallest at any Olympics since 1928 in Amsterdam. And its construction would disrupt the preparations of our top athletes – because the state’s Academy of Sport that the government recently spent $10m upgrading is based literally inside the existing stand at Nathan that would be demolished to make way for the temporary Miles stadium.

Mr Miles should end this joke and do three things. First, he should dump his plans for the temporary track and field stadium. Second, he should redirect the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to make the Gabba smaller to Suncorp Stadium upgrades. And third, he should bite the bullet and invest in a brand new oval stadium for cricket, AFL and for big concerts.

But he won’t, because he is scared of being criticised for “wasting” money. And yet meanwhile, he talks of his pride in the government paying unionised traffic controllers $105,000 more a year than it does teachers – and he can’t wait to drop $18bn on an untested pumped hydro electricity scheme.

DAM THE REASONS, FIND QUICK FIX

The provision of water security is one of the primary concerns of farmers throughout Queensland.

For decades Bundaberg growers campaigned for more storage for the region, which is one of the key sources of fruit and vegetables in Australia.

But when the Paradise Dam was built on the Burnett River almost 20 years ago the fight did not end.

In 2019 concerns about the stability of the structure were raised and this year it was revealed a whole new dam needs to be built.

In Bundaberg yesterday Premier Steven Miles revealed the rebuild would cost more than $1.2bn – with the state unable to recoup any of the money from the original builders. Mr Miles said the dam simply should not have been built the way it was.

“Advice from engineers to us is that there is no similar example anywhere in the world of a dam being built the way this one has,” he said.

For the farmers though, history lessons about what went wrong are much less important than the government moving quickly to fix a major problem before another drought brings the region to its knees.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Billion-dollar Gabba reno a harebrained folly