Queensland to bid for the 2032 Olympic Games

Updated

Queensland is one step closer to making history, with state leaders moving to launch an official bid for the 2032 Olympic Games.

State Cabinet signed off on the plan this morning.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the official bid would be launched if the Federal Government gave the final blessing.

"First of all it's [about] pride in our state — it tells the rest of the world we're firmly on the map — but also too [there would be] the legacy benefits it would give generations to come," she said.

"We do have the capability to do this if we get everything right."

The bid is all but secured, with the Prime Minister's representative on the Olympics delegation, member for the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax Ted O'Brien, welcoming Queensland's decision.

"We are now officially off and running to secure the Games in 2032," Mr O'Brien said in a statement.

He said it was now time to "get on with it".

"The real value for Queensland, and for Australia, is not just those couple of weeks when the eyes of the world are on us, but the decades of positive legacy."

Instead of a traditional city hosting the games, Queensland's bid involves a state-wide approach which would likely include regional cities like Cairns, Townsville and the Gold Coast.

Preliminary investigations by a council of south-east Queensland mayors found ticket sales would be around six times greater than those for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Additional revenue would come from the sales of media rights and international sponsorships.

Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland authorities would spend the next six months assessing existing infrastructure that could be utilised, such as The Gabba in Brisbane which could be used for the opening ceremony.

"We believe we could put on quite a show at The Gabba in terms of activating the length and breadth of the river by having television screens, by having people from right across Queensland and around the world coming to watch the opening ceremony," she said.

"The Olympic Committee has said there is a new norm that means we can look at existing infrastructure; we don't have to build huge venues that will not be used into the future.

"Also too, there has to be benefits and legacy for years to come.

"The Queensland Government has been undertaking a value proposition assessment that shows very clearly that we have 80 per cent of venues that already exist across Queensland. This is great news.

"[The Games] can deliver over 120,000 jobs and the benefits would last for two decades, including in areas such as tourism and trade."

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said while she supported the move, Queenslanders deserved to know what risks were involved.

"The Olympics would be great for Queensland, my only concern of course is whether the Labor Government would have the ability to deliver the infrastructure that is required," she said.

"Queenslanders deserve to know what they're in for here.

"We'd all like to see more information around this decision … how much it's going to cost, what is the infrastructure that's being required and how they're going to deliver it."

'People said this was a crazy idea'

South-east Queensland Council of Mayors Chair Adrian Schinner said he was glad the State Government was finally on board with the idea, which was triggered at a local level in 2015.

"This has been a long journey," he said.

"In the early days when it was first flagged a lot of people said this was a crazy idea — right now we have all three levels of government saying this is the right thing to do."

Cr Schrinner, who is also the Brisbane Lord Mayor, said a successful bid would be an "absolute game changer" for the region.

"It will help give us the infrastructure and the facilities we need rather than having to wait decades and decades like we have seen in the past," he said.

Council of Mayors Treasurer Karen Williams said a winning bid would not just favour bigger local government areas.

"The transport infrastructure will absolutely be a benefit to all those councils as west as Toowoomba and as east as Redlands. We need to be connected as a region," she said.

Topics: olympics-summer, sport, olympic-games-organising-committee, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, qld, australia, brisbane-4000

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