More than 1½ years in the making, the state and federal governments have finally agreed to a $7 billion funding deal for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew to the Queensland capital on Friday morning to sign the deal with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and outline the decisions yet to be made for the Games.
Calling the Games the biggest event ever to be held in Queensland, Albanese said the funded infrastructure would have a “long-term and transformational impact” on the state.
However, the deal formally announced by the leaders on Friday, in front of media and sporting luminaries, was significantly different to the 50-50 cost-sharing agreement once mooted by governments. It is also more costly than original estimates.
As revealed by this masthead last month, the increasingly expensive $2.7 billion Gabba rebuild will be solely a state government responsibility, with the federal government instead contributing $2.5 billion to a new Brisbane Arena at Roma Street.
After examining the prospect of building the arena on the site of the Queensland Police Service headquarters, the state government has decided to have it built over the railway tracks.
While detailed plans and contracts have yet to be finalised, Palaszczuk said both the 50,000-seat Gabba and 17,000-seat Brisbane Arena, also known as Brisbane Live, would have long-term benefits for Brisbane.
“For example, the Gabba has hosted sport for more than a century and is home to cricket and AFL most weeks of the year,” she said.
“It must be upgraded to maintain our competitiveness for international sport and events.
“Brisbane Arena will provide a new indoor entertainment centre — something Brisbane’s CBD has not had since the demolition of Festival Hall in 2003.”
The Gabba rebuild would be the focal point of a major urban renewal project for Woolloongabba.
Adjacent to the stadium, the historic East Brisbane State School will close, with its heritage-listed buildings being incorporated into the stadium precinct.
“Options include relocating the school to new facilities at the underutilised 11-hectare Coorparoo Secondary College site, which is a short distance away,” Education Minister Grace Grace said.
“This is in contrast with the current 1.5-hectare EBSS site which is very constrained, bordered by three major roads, has limited access to green space, and no capacity to expand.”
Local Greens MP Amy MacMahon said the decision went against the community’s wishes, while Gabba councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan, also a Greens member, foreshadowed protests.
The current Woolloongabba Priority Development Area will be expanded to encompass more of Woolloongabba and the Stanley Street precinct to South Bank.
Sixteen new or upgraded venues, including the Sunshine Coast stadium and the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, would receive almost $1.87 billion in co-funding on a 50/50 basis between the two levels of government.
Albanese said the federal government’s $3.44 billion commitment, just shy of the states’ desired 50-50 split, was about nation-building.
“I know as a Sydneysider the difference that a Games can make,” he said.
“Here in Queensland, this will consolidate this great city as a global city, as a global powerhouse.
“But it benefits not just Brisbane. It will benefit the whole state of Queensland but will also benefit our national economy and that’s why the federal government has an interest in this.”
