New Gabba upgrade plans might not be made public before election

The news

The public might not see the government’s updated plans for Gabba upgrades until after the Queensland election in October, Premier Steven Miles says.

But he has brushed off concern about the loss of Test cricket from the Brisbane stadium in 2026-27, saying an earlier rebuild idea meant the sport was already looking to alternatives.

The Gabba’s current site, home to sport since 1896, is constricted by busy Vulture and Stanley streets.Credit: Tony Moore

But Cricket Queensland reiterated concerns the stadium is falling behind national counterparts, and questioned what a planned $500 million upgrade would provide.

Why it matters

Cricket Australia’s plan for the next seven summers showed the Gabba was set to lose its annual cricket Test for the first time in almost half a century.

This year’s government-commissioned 2032 Games venue review found that work to keep the stadium operational and building-code complaint beyond that event was about $1 billion.

A full rebuild was planned initially, but ultimately not recommended by the review.

Instead, Miles decided to pursue a yet-to-be-detailed $500 million upgrade said to focus on bringing the venue up to code.

Despite the premier’s insistence the Gabba could be upgraded, some senior government figures had publicly acknowledged the need for thinking about the stadium’s longer-term future.

What they said

“I understand it was always their intention, given the original Gabba redevelopment proposition, to assess what games could be played during that period,” Miles told journalists when asked on Monday about Cricket Queensland’s concerns.

“Now that we are working through the details of what the new plan for the Gabba looks like, we’ll continue to work with cricket to make sure that they have venues for their games.

“We, of course, want to see those games played here, but we also want to upgrade the Gabba, and so that might take it out of action for some period of time.

“We’ve got more than $500 million on the table for upgrades at the Gabba … and we’ll continue to work with the stadium to determine how that is allocated”.

“Look, I hope so, but I can’t guarantee that.”

Steven Miles’ response to a question about whether the public would see Gabba update plans before October’s election.

Perspectives

On Monday, former Australia cricket captain Allan Border said the Gabba should be pulled down.

“It’s a great Test match pitch, but the actual stadium is getting a bit tired,” he told Nine’s Today.

“The ground is hard to get to, and when the crowd leaves it’s a nightmare getting out of the place … For all those reasons we need to knock it down and do something else.”

In an open letter at the weekend, Queensland Cricket chair Kirsten Pike and chief executive Terry Svenson called for more transparency as other stadiums became “more commercially attractive”.

“It is deeply disappointing that the 2026-27 Gabba Test has become a casualty of the uncertainty around the infrastructure planning and development ahead of the 2032 Olympic preparations, specifically around the Gabba,” the letter said.

“The lack of detail about timings, promised improvements, and actual investment in the Gabba is driving uncertainty and is likely to continue to affect our operations until it is addressed.”