Olympic budget to be revised amid blowout crisis
Brisbane 2032 chair Andrew Liveris says the $4.9 billion Olympic budget will not be enough to cover spreading out the games across Queensland.
Brisbane’s Olmpics chair Andrew Liversis has told a 145th International Olympic Committee Session in Milan on Tuesday February 3, that the Brisbane 2032 budget plans would need to be revised.
There were 100 IOC members present as Liveris said that the budget for the 2032 Olympics would need to be scrutinised to accomodate for nine event sites across Queensland.
The $4.9 billion Olympic operating budget was decided during the Olympic bid in 2021, and does not include construction costs.
This is in addition to the $7.1 billion of funding from state and federal governments for Olympic Venues.
The Olympic Games plan outlines events taking place in Rockhampton, Cairns, Townsville, Maryborough and Toowoomba, as well as the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Liveris said the organising committee needed to address the issue of dispersing these venues. He also said he would take inspiration from the upcoming Milan Cortina Games, the most dispersed Winter Olympics in history.
You might like
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics open on Saturday morning Australian time, outlining the logistical difficulties of widely dispersed games with significant additional transport and Olympic village costs.
“These are nine locations that not only have a capital consequence but an operating consequence,” Liveris told IOC delegates after being asked about the games budget.
“The costing out of that [means] we have the bid budget and that bears no resemblance to reality, especially right now.”
Liveris said the Brisbane 2032 team was working with the International Olympic Committee to revise the budget to accomodate the nine new sites.
“When we’re finished with that product, we’ll have these new locations, the new locations of small [athletes] villages, transportation issues to get to those places,” Liveris said.
With the Los Angeles Olympics already readjusting costs for the next summer Games, Liveris acknowledged that Brisbane 2032 had not yet done any work to readjustment the 2032 budget.
Stay informed, daily
Brisbane 2032 chief executive Cindy Hook told IOC members that active negotiations in four major categories were currently underway, which represents 20 percent of the commercial revenue target.
“Since our launch, more than 500 businesses have registered their interest against more than 65 work packages that we have open,” Hook said.
Liveris also announced that the first commercial partner for the Games has been decided, with details to be announced in the second quarter of this year.
A spokesperson from Save Victoria Park Andrea Lunt said Queensland was originally told the 2032 Olympics would be a budget event celebrating environment and heritage.
Save Victoria Park is an advocacy group that has been campaigning against an Olympic Stadium in the culturally significant Victoria Park since 2020.
“This budget blow out is not just about rising inflation, or a “dispersed Games”. It is about the LNP state government stubbornly pursuing a $6 billion mega stadium precinct in Victoria Park Barrambin,” Lunt said.
Save Victoria Park claims that Victoria Park’s hilly landscape, rocky terrain (which will require expensive earthworks) and lack of public transport access make it unsuitable for an Olympic Stadium.
“Not only will this rushed project cost billions that Queenslanders can’t afford, it will strip our city of invaluable green infrastructure. It will be a severe blow to our First Nations people who treasure this park as an important cultural site. All for an Olympics that was supposed to be sustainable,” Lunt adds.
“It’s not what we signed up for. And we won’t stop fighting it. Again Premier, it’s time for your Plan B.”
