Toowoomba Equestrian Centre 2032: John Wagner praises Qld government for securing Olympic events for city

One of the most controversial projects in Toowoomba’s history reportedly played a key role in helping the city realise its Olympic dream — according to the man who owns it.

Toowoomba companies and builders should be responsible for turning the city’s showgrounds into a $70m equestrian centre for the Olympic Games, according to business magnate John Wagner.

Mr Wagner has hailed the state government’s decision to host Olympic events at the Glenvale site in seven years’ time, as part of its slate of sweeping changes to the venues for the Brisbane Games.

“It’s going to be a game changer for Toowoomba – it’ll put Toowoomba on the international map even further, and I don’t think we should underestimate what this actually means for Toowoomba and our region,” he said.

“David Crisafulli and (deputy premier) Jarrod Bleijie did a fantastic job of looking after both the southeast corner and regional Queensland – I think it was an absolutely standout performance.”

A key piece of the puzzle that unlocked the event for Toowoomba was the presence of the controversial Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre at Wellcamp, which was built for quarantining during the pandemic.

John Wagner of Wagner Corporation at the Future Toowoomba lunch at Wellcamp Airport, Friday, December 3, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Mr Wagner said the facility’s ability to act as an Olympic village for athletes, support staff, media and other officials had played a huge role in the decision.

Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise’s Mark Mason put the potential cost saving to the government at around $50m.

“It played a major role in order to be able to house a thousand people, including athletes and officials, 10 minutes up the road versus in Brisbane, where it’s two hours down the road,” Mr Wagner said.

“So it’s my understanding it was critical to the fact that Toowoomba actually got the Olympics and we’re very happy that we could play a part in it.

“Maybe Toowoomba wouldn’t have got it without the facility being built and available for the Olympic guys to use.”

With the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland (RASQ) now planning to finish the project by 2028, Mr Wagner said it was imperative that the region’s construction sector saw the benefits.

“Absolutely locals need to be involved — when I look back on when we built that accommodation facility, we spent a $200m million there, and somewhere between 85 and 90 per cent was spent in Toowoomba,” he said.

“It changed a lot of people’s lives. It was a big boost in a really tough time for the local construction industry.”

The Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre at Wellcamp. Picture: Nev Madsen.

After suggesting several years ago his company Wagner Corp could build a private animal quarantining facility for the hundreds of horses to be imported for the games, Mr Wagner said the quarantining was now likely to take place at the showgrounds.

He suggested the arrangement could become permanent, urging the RASQ to leverage off the need for a facility of its kind in Queensland.

“We didn’t particularly want to be running a quarantine facility – that’s not our core business,” Mr Wagner said.

“We were never going to be running a quarantine facility, but we put it out there because there’s an opportunity and if the showgrounds is it (for quarantining) we’re more than happy with that outcome.

“That’s the sort of legacy infrastructure we actually need as a result of the gains.

“That’s a classic example of a not-for-profit like the showgrounds ending up with a cash generating facility that was built because of the Olympics.”