Brisbane is no “hillbilly town”, insists 2032 Olympic chief Andrew Liveris, who indicated he’ll have the final say on the city’s controversial Games venue plan that’s become a political football.
The Darwin-born, Brisbane-raised corporate heavyweight addressed the International Olympic Committee session in Paris on Tuesday, exactly eight years out from Brisbane’s 2032 Games.
The organising committee president told the assembly it had “been joyous to see the receptivity” in the Queensland capital and that, three years after Brisbane was awarded the Games, they were ahead of schedule.
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Tellingly though, only Suncorp Stadium was shown in his visual presentation that was built around their catchphrase: Shine brightest. Together.
There were no images of the Gabba, originally proposed as the main stadium before soaring costs saw the project thrown on the scrap heap.
Victoria Park’s new stadium, recommended in a subsequent independent review but then disregarded, wasn’t sighted.
And even the 40,000-seat temporary athletics stadium in Nathan — the option currently on the table — didn’t rate a mention.
Queensland’s state election on October 26 could see plans change again if the Labor premier Steven Miles is beaten as expected by LNP opposition leader David Crisafulli.
“I really ask to stop making the Olympics a political football please,” Liveris told journalists in a press conference in Paris that followed.
“This (Olympics) is a gift.
“Let’s get the enthusiasm for what we’ve been given right and whatever ends up happening with venues, we will deliver.
“Brisbane is not a hillbilly town, (not) that ‘strange place up north’.
“It’s very cosmopolitan, maybe not 24/7 yet, but on its way.”
Liveris said he would wait for project validation reports to be completed before commenting on the viability of the Miles plan, that included upgrades to the Gabba, Suncorp Stadium and a temporary athletics stadium smaller than for any Olympics in the last 100 years.
“We stay the course, work on the facts and when and if decisions get made we look at the effect on the Games and figure out if it’s the right decision for the Games and then we’ll have something to say,” he said.
Despite what he told the IOC in his address, Liveris conceded he was aware of the Olympic negativity in his home town.
“The Gabba thing just made things go south. There was not such good sentiment,” he said.
“The good news stories … the vibe we feel with eight years to go, we’ve got to let the good stuff come out.
“And then you say you’re going to deliver this, you deliver that.
“Don’t whiplash the population, don’t change things for the sake of expediency.
“Brisbane 2032 has one spokesperson and that’s me and that’s for a reason.
“Alignment of message, so we don’t get this abhorrent view that because politician ‘x’ says statement ‘y’ that it’s a Brisbane 2032 statement.”
Liveris said cricket had firmed as a strong candidate for the Brisbane Games given the revenue opportunities to host games in regional centres and joked that another favourite past-time was also in the running.
“It’ll be a stretch to find AFL in there but LA (2028) found flag football, so who knows?” he said.