Quirk warns Brisbane will be judged by state of 2032 Games venues

Former lord mayor Graham Quirk believes Brisbane will only realise the full economic benefit of hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games if it can showcase venues that reflect a “modern, contemporary” city.

Quirk was instrumental in Brisbane’s initial bid for the Games, and last year conducted a review of venues for the Miles Labor government that recommended the planned $2.7 billion rebuild of the Gabba be abandoned in favour of a new stadium being built at Victoria Park at an estimated cost of $3.4 billion.

But the government rejected the recommendation, instead deciding to spend $1.6 billion upgrading the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre to 14,000 seats, with the International Olympic Committee to pay for additional, temporary seating to allow for 40,000 spectators during the Games.

Then-lord mayor Graham Quirk in 2016, when the plan to secure the Olympics was in its infancy.Credit: Glenn Hunt

The government would spend the rest of the money it set aside for the rebuild upgrading the Gabba and Suncorp Stadium, which could be used for the opening ceremony. Both venues will be well-serviced by public transport, but the plan for QSAC remains unclear.

Speaking on 4BC on Monday, Quirk said the venues would give many people their first glimpse of Brisbane and determine not only whether they would visit the city, but whether they would invest in its future.

Quirk said the venues recommended in his review were for the long-term benefit of the city, not just the Games.

“But it would, at the same time, also present us in a modern, contemporary light where the region of south-east Queensland could be seen as something, as a place that would be well and truly worth visiting and then investing in,” he said.

Quirk said it was a rare opportunity to set Brisbane up for long-term economic prosperity.

While he would not be drawn into the politics around QSAC, Quirk said he hoped that after the October election Brisbane had a “clear way forward”.

The Liberal National Party led by David Crisafulli has also ruled out a new stadium at Victoria Park but promised a 100-day review of venues if it takes government.

Premier Steven Miles last week said, “no one tried harder than I did to convince people that the Gabba was a good idea” but he accepted there were concerns over the cost.

British sports administrator and former Olympian Sebastian Coe this week called for athletics to benefit from the 2032 Games through the development of a permanent venue in Brisbane.

While QSAC would remain an athletics hub after the Games, both the Gabba rebuild proposal and Victoria Park stadium proposal would have been used primarily for AFL and cricket.

“You would be surprised if you heard me say anything other than this, however, that we want a strong track-and-field legacy in Brisbane,” Coe reportedly said.

“And ideally a permanent venue that is able to stage world-class athletics and serve as an inspirational hub both for coaching and administrative purposes, post the Games.”

Quirk said Coe had previously told south-east Queensland mayors of the long-term economic benefits for host cities.