Get the ball rolling
Forum calls for deals to begin building Olympic legacy
GOLD Coast city leaders have thrown down the gauntlet to the state and federal governments to come to the table and begin planning the delivery of infrastructure for the 2032 Olympic Games.
Billions of dollars worth of infrastructure, including new boutique stadiums, an athletes village at Robina and the extension of the light and heavy rails will all need to be delivered within 11 years to ensure the world’s biggest sporting event goes off without a hitch. But with no funding deals in place, Mayor Tom Tate called for serious discussion to begin.
Speaking at this week’s Future Gold Coast lunch, Mr Tate said the council was already putting funding aside for the projects, which will require contributions from all three levels of government.
“When you reflect on the nine sports we will be hosting for the Olympics, the number of visitors we will be getting here will be greater than the entire Commonwealth Games itself,” he said.
“When you look at the Go Gold Coast and how we did those games, we have all the learnings from them and it shows us we have to get the infrastructure build starting early.
“Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk knows how passionate we are and the Gold Coast has a big role to play and the legacy from that will be the most important part.”
The Future Gold Coast event gathered some of the city’s movers and shakers to share and discuss opportun
ities presented by co-hosting the 2032 Olympic Games.
It came following a series of stories from the Bulletin revealing the critical projects needed to make the Olympics a success while securing the greatest long-term legacy for the city to help cope with its dramatically swelling population.
These include the trams,
the construction of the Coomera Connector “second M1”, a further expansion of Gold Coast Airport, new hotels and tourist attractions.
Marketing guru Michael Payne, the man credited with saving the Olympics movement in the 1980s, was the event’s keynote speaker and used his address to highlight the critical need for getting an early start on building the key infrastructure.
“No host city has ever had 11 years to prepare to host the Games. The normal lead time is seven years,” he said.
“Politicians are not generally used to deadlines, especially in construction that can’t be pushed back and this is where budgets come under stress – as construction timelines run out of runway, and there is the mad scramble and budget blowout to get there in the end.
“If you look back at nearly every Olympic budget blowout – it is because construction timelines were not respected. Early time in the planning process was abused.”
Mr Payne said being a cohost of the Olympics would deliver the Gold Coast a long-term legacy – but only if planned properly.
“Legacies are both tangible and intangible, so use the opportunity of hosting the Games, to drive forward key major capital infrastructure projects,” he said.
“The benefits though are not just about bricks and mortar infrastructure. You can look to change whole attitudes and cultures; the image of a nation.”