Unlikely allies in Olympic battle

The Greens, One Nation, Katter’s Australian Party and independent MPS have found a unified voice with regards to capping the Olympics budget.

The Queensland crossbenchers tabled a joint statement on Tuesday, outlining five requests in relation to funding for Olympics and regional infrastructure.

They want the current 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games budget capped at $7bn and a guaranteed matching of that amount in regional infrastructure.

The state government is spending $3.7bn on Games infrastructure in the next decade, while the federal government is covering the other $3.3bn.

The crossbenchers requested that all business cases for the host city contract be made public, to make sure the Games doesn’t push up house prices, and called for the Gabba demolition and redevelopment to be scrapped.

Katter’s Australian Party and Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto said he found it hard to support the Olympics and the “exuberant” amount of money being spent on Brisbane when “in Hinchinbrook we continue to feed off the state’s crumbs”.

Traeger MP Robbie Katter said the Olympics build would consume all available infrastructure labour and resources for the next 10 years.

A state government spokesman said nothing was being built solely for the few weeks of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Spending on health, education and housing this year totalled $47.2bn, and the majority (95 per cent) of the government’s $62bn energy and jobs plan was being spent in regional Queensland, the spokesman said.

Athlete villages will deliver 14,000 new homes in Northshore Hamilton, 500 on the Gold Coast and 350 on the Sunshine Coast.

The crossbench comprises Greens MPS Michael Berkman and Amy Macmahon, the three Katter’s Australian Party MPS Mr Dametto, Mr Katter and Shane Knuth, One Nation MP Stephen Andrew and independent MP Sandy Bolton.