After some false starts, the race to the Brisbane 2032 Games is underway with the Olympic venue plan finally unveiled.
A 60,000-seat main stadium in Brisbane’s Victoria Park has been confirmed as the centrepiece after the Queensland government revealed long awaited infrastructure following a 100-day review.
“The time has come to just get on with it,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said.
Big winners include swimming with the inner city Centenary Pool to be transformed into a 25,000-seat national aquatic centre near the main stadium, ditching initial plans to host the sport in a drop-in pool.
The Brisbane Showgrounds will also get a facelift with a 20,000-seat stadium planned next to a relocated main athletes village.
Hockey will also be happy, with the sport to be held on the Gold Coast at a revamped 2018 Commonwealth Games venue instead of Brisbane’s Ballymore rugby field.
However the plan did not feature a proposed Commonwealth-backed Brisbane Arena in the CBD, with the Queensland government saying allocated federal funding would be used elsewhere.
The Queensland government and the Commonwealth had agreed to a $7.1 billion funding envelope for venues split 50-50, with $2.5 billion federal dollars allocated to the Brisbane Arena.
The Brisbane Games are set to also mark the “swansong” for traditional cricket and AFL home, the Gabba, which will become an entertainment hub post-2032.
The clock is ticking for organisers with a venue plan finally confirmed almost four years since Brisbane was named Olympic host.
Crisafulli made the announcement on Tuesday after initially promising no new stadiums would be built when the Liberal National Party won the 2024 election and ordered the review, producing the third 2032 venue plan in four years.
Football will be hosted in Cairns in the state’s far north after the sport’s national body called for a permanent 30,000-seat stadium, preferably at Brisbane’s Perry Park.
Rowing may be concerned by confirmation the sport would be hosted in central Queensland’s Fitzroy River in crocodile country following reports it may not meet international standards.
Brisbane’s Queensland Tennis Centre is set to receive a major update reportedly worth $113 million upgrade to host the sport, avoiding mooted plans to relocate it to Melbourne in 2032.
Equestrian events have been moved to Toowoomba and sailing relocated from Moreton Bay up to north Queensland, with Townsville and the Whitsundays hosting.
