I get that there is less of an emphasis on leaving a built legacy after Olympic Games, but to do nothing with the Gabba (including a knockdown and build on a different site) makes it highly likely that the Olympics leaves a negative legacy.
The Quirk report is reportedly quite scathing on the current state of the Gabba too - so whats the plan? Let it crumble and see major events leave the state?
Which the Queensland Premier has rejected - top work there!
Far out, I can’t keep up.
This is ridiculous and so tacky. They’re not forward looking. In 2032 the infrastructure needs for a growing city will require a new stadium. The gabba is not fit for purpose. Having this weird hybrid use of suncorp plus the QSAC is just pathetic.
Yeah, the Premier rejected the recommendation and cobbled together this third-rate solution. As I say, what a legacy…
What a joke indeed… So they’ll spend 1.6B on something for 4 weeks. No legacy at all.
Does it mean The Gabba’s days as a stadium are now numbered (regardless if a stadium upgrade will go ahead)?
Sure, The Gabba has its distinct disadvantage of being sandwiched between two arterial roads. If The Gabba gets one more upgrade, I reckon it could mean either Stanley Street or Vulture Street will have to lose one traffic lane for the expanding stadium footprint.
As I saw it put earlier, not upgrading the Gabba now just kicks the can down the road. It will still need either a major refurb or replacement in the next couple of decades. And if you’re not going to do it for the Olympics, when else will you?
Exactly. And that’s how Labor pitched the Olympics in the first place - getting State and Federal money spent on infrastructure and facilities for the future.
What a mess this has become.
I think Brisbane needs a new stadium to host the Olympics. AFL and Cricket should move from the Gabba after the Olympics to the newly built stadium. The new stadium could also be designed to hold concerts etc.
The Gabba can be downgraded overtime to a boutique cricket ground similar to the WACA in Perth.
I agree. What a complete mess.
I think we’ll need to wait to see what the LNP’s position is on all this, given the high chance Labor will be ousted in October this year. Currently the LNP is trying to deflect and say they’ll leave it up to an independent body, but time will tell if they can hold that line until the October election.
But the reality is it’s likely to be the LNP that is presiding over the initial stages of building some of these venues. I can’t see Labor actually doing much in the way of getting contracts etc. signed before October.
The risk now is that if they don’t do it for the Olympics, it’s unlikely to occur until well after 2032.
I can’t see how a government can justify a plan for the Olympics (however stupid) that excludes the venue and then later down the track makes a seperate investment into the facility unrelated to the Olympics.
It had to be The Gabba or Vic Point/Albion Park. To go with QSAC makes zero sense especially looking at the proximity to the CBD, public transport options and the legacy plans following 2032. Why spend all this money on refurbing QSAC for the Games to only pull most of the stands down again!
My goodness. What a crazy 24 or so hours for Qld and the games stadiums. And to possibly cancel the games, to now come back to it. What’s going on?
The winner is Sydney. Organised from the let go.
Steven Miles won’t be there next year, and this will only be delayed even longer. There we go I said it… 
Qld is being run by lunatics. Just get on with it. Fancy trying and getting out of the games. What a disgrace.
I suppose the good thing is that at least the games are far enough away that they can make bad decisions with little consequence for a while yet.
Maybe the thought balloon of QEII is enough to galvanise a push for The Gabba again - because a groundswell point out how lacking in legacy benefit these games will otherwise be.
There’s certainly no need for anything to be signed pre-election, and there’s an absolute need for the opposition to come out one way or another. This is very clearly posturing to be two steps ahead of the opposition - being so desperate to sound like good economic managers by getting to say they are spending on hospitals instead of stadiums - while still spending almost as much on stadiums and getting far worse value for money out of it.
But you see the same opposition cowardice in Tassie - it’s vastly easier to oppose without solutions - magically getting a team without the stadium in Tassie, and committing to listening to experts without saying which experts you’ll listen to in the case of Queensland.
Agree with all that except I think some support is galvanizing behind Victoria Park rather than the Gabba.
Agree there’s still time to turn it all around and nothing should get signed until after the election in October.
The redevelopment of Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium precinct is now complete, one day ahead of the venue’s first AFL match of the year, between North Melbourne and Fremantle.