2023-03-30
The Greens have backed a Senate inquiry into the 2032 Brisbane Olympics which will investigate Australia’s preparedness to host the Games, its likely impact on the community, and the legacy it will leave behind.
The inquiry, which will also look into the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, will also explore the adequacy of oversight and accountability processes, claims about its economic benefits, and the impacts on housing affordability.
Comments attributable to Greens Senator for Queensland Penny Allman-Payne:
“The Queensland Government’s plans to sink $2.7 billion into the utterly unnecessary destruction of the Gabba is an appalling waste of public money at a time when the state is facing desperate funding shortfalls in education, housing and health.
“How do we know it’s utterly unnecessary? Because even the CEO of the Australian Olympic Committee admitted just this week that the Gabba just needs ‘a coat of paint’.
“While many Queenslanders struggle to find affordable housing, public schools are understaffed and regional maternity services are closing across the state, there are so many more important things this $2.7 billion could be spent on, especially in a cost of living crisis.
“The Palaszczuk Government has proven it’s allergic to transparency and accountability when it comes to the Olympics so we welcome this opportunity to pull back the curtain.”
Comments from Queensland Greens MP for South Brisbane Amy MacMahon:
“My community deserves to feel excited about hosting the 2032 Games, but how can they when Queensland Labor want to close their school, clear their park, bulldoze family homes, and drive up housing unaffordability?
“I’m looking forward to this Senate inquiry revealing the flimsy basis on which Queensland Labor has made their case for the Olympics, and the huge negative impact that local communities are being forced to shoulder.
“We know that Labor’s promised economic benefits, tourism benefits, and even the claims that Olympics get more people into sport, aren’t backed up by evidence.
“But what is backed up by evidence, is that without exception, Olympic Games run over budget, supercharge house and rent prices, and drive displacement.”