QLD’s new premier drops Olympic stadium hint in first call with Albo

Queensland’s newly sworn in* premier David Crisafulli used his first conversation with Prime Minister Anthony ­Albanese to discuss Brisbane’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

But Australians won’t learn the Liberal National Party’s* (LNP) vision for the Games until at least March next year – more than 1250 days after Brisbane was awarded the world’s biggest sporting event.

Mr Crisafulli has given his incoming team one month to appoint a new independent Infrastructure* Co-­ordination Authority to map out infrastructure and transport needs for the Games.

The authority will then have 100 days to report to government, outlining which infrastructure projects, including the main stadium, will go ahead for 2032, and what money will be given to each.

It means Australians won’t know how the QLD government plans to deliver the Olympics until March 12 at the earliest – a nervous wait after Victoria abruptly dropped the Commonwealth Games last year.

In a cautionary tale for future state governments, Victoria paid the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia a combined $380 million in compensation* and the state’s taxpayers saw at least $589 million in total spent on not hosting the 2026 Games.

Hosting an Olympics is a substantially larger commitment and Mr Crisafulli revealed that hours after winning government on Saturday, he had a lengthy chat about the Games with Mr Albanese on Sunday morning.

“I spent a considerable amount of time talking to the Prime Minister about that, and we intend to speak directly to the Sport Minister (Anika Wells), who is a Queenslander, and I reckon we can get a good outcome,” he said.

Despite repeatedly stating a Labor-planned rebuild of the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre at Nathan would not go ahead under an LNP government, Mr Crisafulli refused to reveal where Brisbane’s Olympic stadium would be.

“Within 100 days, Queenslanders will see a plan that they are proud of and, in doing so, we can restore faith in that ­process,” he said.

Former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Saturday said her original idea of rebuilding the Gabba* stadium still made sense for the Olympics but had been lost in the conversation, and whoever came into power needed to lock it in to avoid Brisbane becoming an international embarrassment.

With the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC) scrapped as a potential venue, Mr Crisafulli has promised no new stadiums would be built, indicating a likely return to Ms Palaszczuk’s Gabba rebuild concept.

Mr Albanese said he would work collaboratively* with Mr Crisafulli.

“I know David quite well – we’ve met over the years – and we have a big job to do,” he said.

The LNP secured a majority government in Queensland, winning at least 47 seats in Saturday’s election. The conservative* party now begins a four-year term in the eight-year lead up to Brisbane 2032.

Additional reporting by Kids News

POLL

GLOSSARY

• sworn in: ceremony where a new leader or public official formally promises to fulfil the duties of a new job or appointment
• Liberal National Party:
• infrastructure: basic systems and services, such as roads, transport and power supplies, that a country or organisation needs to work effectively
• compensation: money claimed from the person, organisation or state responsible for a loss of expected benefit, negative impact or personal injury
• the Gabba: the nickname for the Queensland Cricket Association ground at Woolloongabba, Brisbane
• collaboratively: involving working with others on a joint project
• conservative: name given to many political parties worldwide to refer to right-wing to centre-right politics, supporting free enterprise and privately owned industry

EXTRA READING

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Comm Games cuts more sports

Victoria cancels the 2026 Commonwealth Games

Brisbane named host of 2032 Olympic Games

QUICK QUIZ

1. Who is the new Queensland premier?
2. He is the leader of which party?
3. How many days will the new Infrastructure Co-­ordination Authority have to outline delivery of the 2032 Brisbane Games?
4. Which former QLD premier was first in favour of upgrading the Gabba to become the Olympic stadium?
5. How much did not hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games cost Victoria?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Olympic Games planning
Brisbane has been named the host city of the 2032 Olympic Games, just over seven years away.

What sort of considerations need to be met and infrastructure built in time for Brisbane to host this international sporting event, with thousands of teams and athletes attending from all over the world?

The following statement is from the Queensland Government’s web page:

Hosting the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games brings with it unmissable opportunities to accelerate development across the state and upgraded sport venues are being planned to meet the needs of our growing communities and will be brought forward to be built in time for the Games, not because of the Games. It also creates the opportunity for our state to build and develop multipurpose infrastructure, such as the athlete villages, most of which will be used for permanent housing after the Games.

List the key infrastructure that needs to be delivered for Brisbane to host the games in 2032:

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Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension

Do you think the Queensland Government is allowing enough time to be prepared for the games in 2032? If you were a taxpaying Queenslander, are you happy for this money to be spent in preparation for hosting the Olympics? Outline your reasons for and against.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Summarise the article
A summary can be a really good way to grab the main idea plus some key points in the article as a highlight. Think of the summary like a little advertisement or extract you could use to encourage people to read the article in detail. You want to give them an overview of the article that includes the main idea (being able to tell the audience what the article is about in one sentence), plus a few of the key points of the information.

Remember to re-read your summary to check that it is clear, concise and makes sense to the audience who haven’t read the article yet. You need to make language choices that allow you to explain the information in only a few sentences.