Gold Coast Mayor outlines potential new Olympic stadium, saving $5 billion

The 2032 Olympic Games remain a hot topic but one Qld mayor says he has a solution to one of the issues.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate will present the city’s 32-page submission to the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics Review. Picture: Adam Head / Stephen Brookes

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate will present the city’s formal submission to the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics Review on Tuesday with claims he can save organisers $5 billion while also outlining a new location for a potential Brisbane stadium.

Councillor Tate said the 32-page submission would be lodged on the same day, with details on which events the Gold Coast can and should host as well as outlining arguments for the Gold Coast’s vibrant tourism hotel industry to provide accommodation rather than construct an expensive athletes village.

He said installing a roof and a 10,000-seat stadium at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre could be substantially cheaper than the planned temporary pool at a new Brisbane arena.

The initial Queensland submission to the Olympics included eight sports for the Gold Coast, but Councillor Tate said there was scope for many more events to be held on the Glitter Strip, including golf, hockey, rowing, cricket and surfing.

“We don’t want them to waste money,” he said.

“We’re here to help.”

While initially advocating for the Gold Coast’s Carrara Stadium - host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games athletics program as well as the opening and closing ceremonies - to hold the Olympic athletics, Councillor Tate said that the stadium would rather be best suited as a venue for Twenty20 cricket, which will make its Olympic debut in LA in 2028.

However, he said the potential savings to be gleaned from his city’s submission could create scope for Brisbane to build a world-class Olympic stadium - at Doomben Racecourse.

Doomben joins a growing list of potential sites mooted as Olympic stadiums, as debates continues to rage over whether a revamped Gabba, Victoria Park, or a privately-funded venue on Brisbane’s Northside should serve as the main Olympic stadium.

Proposed redevelopment of Brisbane’s Gabba stadium is one of many candidates for Brisbane’s main Olympic stadium. Picture Supplied

Councillor Tate initially told a media conference on Tuesday that Boondall would be an ideal venue for an Olympic stadium.

He later clarified that he was referring to Doomben, home of one of Brisbane’s two horse racing tracks.

Doomben’s access to Brisbane Airport, the Gateway Motorway and a soon-to-be-upgraded Bruce Highway made the area a logical choice for new stadium, said Councillor Tate.

However, he said Doomben was “just a suggestion” for the review panel to take on board.

Originally published as Gold Coast Mayor outlines potential new Olympic stadium, saving $5 billion