Brisbane 2032 Games preparation lagging badly, says senator

A federal inquiry has failed to find any evidence of the state government having completed any real work in preparation for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to key senators leading the probe.

Nationals senators Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan on Wednesday. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

A federal inquiry has failed to find any evidence of the state government having completed any real work in preparation for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to key senators leading the probe.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said the evidence at the inquiry into Australia’s preparedness to host the Games so far suggested the only planning completed had been “half-arsed and half-baked”.

“From the paperwork we’ve seen, there’s no feasibility studies, there’s no business cases, there’s no funding agreements, there’s no sod turning,” Senator McKenzie said.

“Nothing has been done. There’s been a lot of buck passing and no building.”

The inquiry held a full-day hearing in Brisbane on Wednesday, which also heard the Miles government had embarked on a “shadow review” before former Liberal Lord Mayor Graham Quirk had finalised a 60-day half-million-dollar review of venues that Premier Steven Miles had asked him to lead.

But State Development Department director-general Graham Fraine said he could not now recall who had ordered his department to start looking into a track and field stadium at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Nathan – an option rejected by the formal review but adopted by Premier Miles.

Mr Quirk told the hearing he had been “blindsided” when Mr Miles revealed on the day the venue review was made public the Premier had charged public servants with investigating whether the Nathan facility could be an athletics option.

“The panel did not know that at all, it was a complete blindside for us,” Mr Quirk said.

“We knew the government didn’t have an appetite for a new stadium – we knew that about a week prior.

“In the end, if they weren’t interested in the stadium, it would have been good to know that (in the beginning).

“But again, I only took this on, on the basis that it would be a fully independent review.”

Mr Fraine confirmed the department was instructed to look at QSAC about two weeks before Mr Quirk’s review was finalised when it became clear the review would be rejecting the idea and would instead recommend a new stadium be built at Victoria Park.

Former premier and Brisbane lord mayor Campbell Newman appears at the hearing. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

But he said he couldn’t recall who the direction had come from, and revealed the department was only now undertaking a project validation report (PVR) on the plan.

“When the government understood this is where the panel was headed, it asked us to have a look,” Mr Fraine said.

“We knew the panel had had a look at QSAC and come to a view, we knew through the input of the IOC ... they had a view. They asked us to have a look … given the concerns the government had with a new $3.4bn stadium.”

Nationals senator Matt Canavan then asked that considering the state was now committing more than $1.4bn to the Nathan venue: “Aren’t we shooting first and asking questions later?”

“That’s the purpose of the final PVR,” Mr Fraine said, adding that work would be completed this year.

IOC vice-president John Coates – who first proposed the Nathan option – dialled in to the inquiry and was repeatedly asked by the senators to answer their questions directly during a number of clashes.

Mr Coates told the panel he was “quite relaxed” about the timeline to get venues ready in time for the Games, and reiterated his support for holding the athletics at QSAC rather than building a new stadium.

“If there is to be a new stadium, it shouldn’t be at a cost to the Olympics,” he said, adding it would largely benefit AFL and cricket. He also said state Development Minister Grace Grace had told him the government would not be supporting a new Victoria Park stadium and would push forward with QSAC several days before the decision was made public.

Senator Canavan said the panel had hoped the 2032 Games president Andrew Liveris and chief executive Cindy Hook would have attended, saying “we did ask them”.

“They are in fact a Queensland government agency. We do not have the power over this federal Senate committee to compel a state government agency to appear,” he said,

“So, the first question I would have put to BOCOG if they did come up is, have you been gagged by the Queensland government?”

Senator McKenzie said promises made by both the state and federal governments to the IOC as part of the bid process had been broken.

“What we promised the IOC we would do was get on with it, that is what the three levels of government agreed to back in 2021 – and they weren’t all the same colour,” she said.

“It is the new state Labor government and the new federal Labor government that have trashed that promise to the IOC.”

Originally published as Brisbane 2032 Games preparation lagging badly, says senator