The panel undertaking a 60-day review into the Brisbane 2032 Olympics has been given licence to consider all options for overhauling the event’s “divisive” multi-billion-dollar infrastructure plan.
That includes both the $2.7bn billion knock-down rebuild of the Gabba – which the premier, Steven Miles, has not ruled out scrapping – and a new $2.5bn Brisbane Arena swimming venue.
Miles said he was concerned the sheer cost of the $7bn venues master plan had made the Games a “divisive issue” and he wanted an alternative that was better “value for money”.
“Queenslanders are concerned about that level of expense. I certainly am, too,” he said.
The premier said he wants the “independent review process” to bring back options that are “better value for money”.
Both opposition and crossbench parties oppose the Gabba plan, and the Brisbane city council fell out with the state government late last year, quitting the body responsible for planning the games.
Miles admitted the government had underestimated the impact of the Gabba closure on cricket and the Brisbane Lions AFL club.
“I’m happy to acknowledge and willing to acknowledge that we underestimated the impact of this on those codes and on those teams,” he said.
“And that’s one of the things that has led me to make this decision, to review the plan. I think it’s a good thing that a leader is willing to say, maybe we got that wrong.”
Miles ordered the review into the venues master plan in December in one of his first acts after becoming premier.
The former Brisbane mayor Graham Quirk, who was heavily involved in bidding for the Games, will lead the review.
The review, which commenced on Thursday, has been given terms of reference to look at whether infrastructure projects that are value for money and fit for purpose. It will also assess deliverability and community legacy.
Quirk said the members of the review panel “come to the table with very much a clean sheet of paper” and would consider everything.
“We’ll be looking not only at existing venues and proposals, but if the panel believe that there may be other sites which are currently not on the list of intended sites, then we will certainly be recommending that they be looked at,” he said.
Quirk will be joined by former New South Wales public service bureaucrat Ken Kanofski and Michelle Morris, a director of a firm that specialises in delivering events, including at several Olympics.
Asked why he believed the review team could come up with a better plan in 60 days than the state bureaucracy had in years, Quirk said he’d let the public be the judge.
“That’s a fair question. But again, the premier has said earlier that a fresh set of eyes need to be cast over the arrangement, and so that’s what I will do. I will do that to the best of my ability,” Quick said. “You’ll be the judge at the end … of this review and the recommendations that it contains.”
The review must report back by 18 March, two days after local government elections across Queensland, including in Brisbane.
The Brisbane lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, who attended the press conference on Thursday, said the review was a good start.
“If we can get value for money with the venues, if we can get confidence in this process, then there should be more money available for other legacy things like better transport and a whole range of other opportunities,” he said.
When he was infrastructure minister, Miles signed off on the master plan that is now under review.
He said on Thursday he always had concerns about the cost and several times last year had given orders to his department to find new options – but the bureaucracy did not come up with a better alternative to the Gabba rebuild.
“I signed off on an option that I was consistently advised was the best outcome. Now I’m saying I would like new advice. I would like independent advice. I would like this review to look at that decision,” he said.
“Look at all of the options … and come back to me with the best outcome.”
Miles denied being pressured by former premier Annastacia Paluszczuk to back a plan he didn’t believe in.
The state government will also establish a delivery authority for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games – another step firmly opposed by Paluszcuk. It is expected to be operational towards the middle of the year.
Under current plans, the rebuild of the Gabba will require the demolition of the neighbouring East Brisbane state school.
Daniel Angus, a parent at the school and co-chair of the Rethink the Gabba group, said the review was “in some ways” a win.
He said an independent infrastructue review “should have been the process from the start” and hopes the review recommends scrapping the plan.
“It could be updated with better accessibility and upgraded change rooms, those kinds of ancillary facilities, but certainly you don’t need to knock down the entire stadium to accomplish those kinds of improvements.”
– with Australian Associated Press
