Brisbane Olympics supremo casts doubt over Gabba

Brisbane’s Olympics supremo has conceded the billion-dollar plan to demolish and rebuild the Gabba could prove too costly, but was confident organisers could pivot to deliver an alternative venue.

In his first major speech as president of the 2032 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, Andrew Liveris also fired the starter’s gun on the branding development he said would underpin the Games and make Brisbane “the Barcelona of Australia”.

Andrew Liveris says Brisbane 2032’s branding will be central to the Games’ success.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Liveris said the OCOG was taking a 3+3+3+1 approach to organising the Games. Those first three years will be “engagement, education and establishment”, the second three years would be for operational planning, and the final three years for execution and delivery.

The final year would be the “Games readiness stage”.

But at a Queensland Media Club address on Wednesday, Liveris said which venues would be in that readiness stage by 2031 was still an open question.

“I’m a fan of the location of the Gabba being what it is – I like that idea as a Brisbane boy – ... but we don’t want to have a blown-out budget to do it,” he said.

A concept image of The Gabba as an Olympic athletics venue.Credit: Queensland government

“I’m sure that people responsible for looking at the cost, which is the government, will come eventually and say ‘this is the better plan’, and whatever the better plan is, we’ll take you through the process.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk blindsided the then-Morrison government when she announced last year that the Gabba would be Brisbane’s main Olympic stadium.

The Gabba will require a rebuild to meet modern Olympic standards, and questions have been raised about the site footprint required to accommodate a larger stadium, with its required running track.

Brisbane’s previous bid included a new Olympic stadium at the site of the Albion Park raceway.

The International Olympic Committee accepted the Gabba option when it awarded Brisbane the Games, but Liveris said the hosting contract was subject to negotiated changes as required.

“If a change is needed, look, that host contract is great, the binding agreements are great, but they aren’t perfect,” he said.

“You learn, and learning means you’ve got to maybe be open to making changes to things that you have previously agreed to.

“Those cases need to be made, and they will be made. Our OCOG boards will sit and listen and, frankly, follow the process to make those changes.”

The Games’ branding was vital, Liveris said, in telling the world the story of Brisbane and leaving an impression that would last long after the Olympic cauldron goes cold.

To that end, he revealed a tender process began on Wednesday, with branding experts invited to make their pitches to shape the symbolism of Brisbane 2032.

“Most of us didn’t know much about Barcelona until the [1992] Olympics came,” he said. “Barcelona is now a visited city. People go there for arts, for culture, for fun, for restaurants – it’s as visited as Madrid.

“So can we have that as part of the topic? People know Australia for Sydney and Melbourne, maybe, so how do we become the Barcelona of Australia with our symbols and our emblems?”

Sydney famously had three mascots – Syd the Platypus, Olly the Kookaburra, and Millie the Echidna (not to mention the unofficial mascot, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat) – but Liveris indicated he wanted marketers to be a little more cerebral in their approach for Brisbane.

“We’re not London, we’re not LA. Who are we? Answer that when you respond to the bid,” he told a business audience on Wednesday.

“And who do we want to be? Answer that and then design the symbols and emblems that go with it.

“It’s not the other way around. I can go with a surfboard or a koala bear, but that’s just a symbol of our geography and our location.

“Who are we as a people, and what do we aspire to be? I think these are the sorts of things that the top brand marketers will tell you is really what matters today.”

Liveris also revealed the incoming OCOG chief executive would likely be announced by next month, with a shortlist of candidates to be discussed at a committee meeting this Friday.

“I’m not ready to share a name with you because the global search has been extensive,” he said. “The quality of candidates is unbelievable.”