Preparations for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games became mired in a new political brawl on Sunday when the city’s lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, withdrew support for the planned $2.7bn rebuild of the Gabba stadium.
The new Gabba would be the main Olympic stadium and is the centrepiece of the Queensland government’s plan for the games.
But the rebuild has been controversial. It is opposed by many local residents and has been pursued by the state in the face of other, cheaper options.
What has happened?
Schrinner’s decision to withdraw his support – and resign from a Games delivery forum – followed the Queensland government’s announcement it would redevelop the Brisbane showgrounds into a $137m boutique stadium to host cricket and AFL while the Gabba is a work site for four years from 2025.
Guardian Australia understands the AFL in particular had lobbied for the showgrounds, which was its preferred option as a temporary home for the Brisbane Lions.
The state government announced the plan on Friday, including that the city council, AFL, Cricket Australia and the Royal Agricultural Society would be requested to cover about two-thirds of the cost.
Schrinner says he wasn’t even told prior. He says the state sports minister, Stirling Hinchliffe, had only attempted to call him late the day before.
When you miss a call late in the afternoon and don't know what it's about... pic.twitter.com/Wt9SB1Cs7D
— Adrian Schrinner (@bne_lordmayor) December 1, 2023
“It’s clear that the Games have become more about overpriced stadiums rather than the promise of vital transport solutions,” Schrinner said in a statement.
“The state government’s ham-fisted and foolish attempt to extort Brisbane ratepayers for tens of millions of dollars for a new RNA stadium was the final straw.”
Why is the Gabba being redeveloped?
The International Olympic Committee has said the Gabba redevelopment is not required to host the Games – the new mantra being that infrastructure should not be built just for the Olympics.
Initially there were other options on the table for a main athletics stadium – redeveloping the Albion Park greyhound racing track, or the QE2 stadium in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, which hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
The Gabba plan has been pushed by the state government for a few reasons. The first is the need to appease the stadium’s long-term tenants, the AFL and cricket, which have been lobbying for upgrades for years.
The Gabba has traditionally hosted the first cricket Test of the Australian summer, but in 2018 it was stripped of the honour over concerns the stadium was “antiquated”.
“We have not seen any material developments at the Gabba in terms of improving public amenities for a while,’’ the chief executive of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, said at the time.
Queensland has also already ploughed billions into the “cross river rail” project, which will drastically improve public transport connections to the Gabba precinct.
Why is it controversial?
Queensland government sources yesterday questioned why the state would go public when it had not agreed to a funding deal.
“It’s the second time we’ve bungled an announcement about the Gabba that wasn’t ready,” one government source said.
The first was when the Queensland government unilaterally announced in 2021 that it would redevelop the Gabba as the centrepiece of the Olympics.
The federal MP for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien, who represented the Morrison government in early Olympic planning, told the ABC last year he was “dismayed” when Queensland announced the Gabba plan without consultation.
“It wasn’t so much the breach of trust – it was annoying that they did just go out and make an announcement because we were trying to do things on a unity ticket, that was annoying – but that in itself wasn’t enough to kill the deal,” O’Brien said.
“The problem was we were selling a proposition to the IOC about the ‘new norms’ … no big, new, flashy, glossy investments. We’re going to leverage our existing facilities. And then, out of nowhere, front page.”
The Queensland government is now footing the bill alone for the Gabba.
The redevelopment places pressure on local amenities and will require the demolition of an adjoining heritage-listed school. The area is ground zero for the Greens’ emergence as a political force in Brisbane – local, state and federal representatives are all Greens – and to them the plan represents government excess at a time when people are struggling with housing and cost-of-living concerns.
The state government initially promised an independent authority to oversee games venue plans, but abandoned the idea and will self-manage the projects. One government source questioned whether this was of the desire to consider AFL and cricket and that an independent body might “instead focus on the needs of actual Olympic sports”.
Schrinner told the ABC on Monday that an independent authority was needed.
“This process has been botched,” he said.
Now what?
On Monday, Palaszczuk said the simple solution to relocating cricket and AFL during the Gabba rebuild would be to move them to Carrara – the 2018 Commonwealth Games stadium on the Gold Coast – but that neither code wanted that.
The subtext is clear. These two sports will be the big beneficiaries of the Olympic spend. If they want a bells-and-whistles temporary stadium too, they’ll have to cough up.
“We’ve worked out our share and now we need to see what the other parties can put in,” Palaszczuk said.
On Schrinner, Palaszczuk pointed out he had previously supported the showgrounds plan and suggested his outburst was related to council elections, due early next year. The city has recently found itself in budgetary difficulties, and slashed spending on services and other projects.
Could the Gabba plan change?
There is a state election in Queensland next year and the Liberal National party opposition has been relatively coy about its own ideas. Schrinner is also from the LNP. His intervention will increase speculation things could change.
It would certainly be open to a new government to change course, especially given physical works are still some way off.
Schrinner said he did not have a firm view about whether the Gabba was the best option, but that he had lost faith in the state process, which he says has been focused on validating the government’s decision – the most recent report is literally a “validation report” – rather than assessing the merits of all options.
“If an overpriced stadium is the legacy of the Olympics, that’s not the right Olympics,” he said.
