A new 60,000-seat stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, located in inner-city parkland, has been revealed as part of a major revision of the planning for the 2032 Summer Games.
David Crisafulli, the third premier of Queensland state since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2032 Games to Brisbane almost four years ago, presented the updated plans on a rainy Tuesday during a Future Brisbane forum.
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It has been over 1,340 days since the IOC's decision in 2021, yet local organisers have yet to begin constructing Olympic venues. During this time, changes in government at both federal and state levels have occurred.
After 150 days in office, Crisafulli declared, “The time has come to just get on with it — get on with it, and build.” He added, “We are going to start immediately. We've got seven years to make it work, and make it work we will.”
A 25,000-seat aquatics centre has also been proposed for an Olympic precinct that includes the new main stadium at Victoria Park, a former golf course near downtown Brisbane.
With Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Summer Games, Brisbane is next in line. The 11 years initially allotted for Brisbane's preparations have now been reduced to seven, and leaders at all levels of government and sports federations agree that it is time to cease arguing over venues and begin constructing them.
Newly elected IOC president Kirsty Coventry has overseen the early stages of planning for the Olympic movement and has been kept informed of the changes by Andrew Liveris, chairman of the 2032 organising committee.
Liveris mentioned that there had been daily engagement between a review panel assessing all venue options and the local organising committee, which is responsible for running the Games. “The stage matters,” he said. “We’ve still got 7½ years to go, and we have a plan. None of this is embarrassing — this is a go-get-it-done plan.”
Brisbane was the first Summer Games host chosen through a new process that allowed a preferred candidate to enter exclusive, fast-track discussions without competing against rival bidders in a vote. This change aimed to reduce the costs of campaigning and venue construction while avoiding vote-buying scandals.
False starts It has been a year since local organisers abandoned plans to demolish and rebuild the Gabba, an iconic cricket ground, as the centrepiece of the 2032 Games after a review panel, appointed in 2023, suggested a new stadium in city parkland instead.
The costs for rebuilding the Gabba had escalated, and the Australian Olympic Committee withdrew its support for the concept.
At the time, Queensland's premier Steven Miles rejected the review’s recommendations, led by former Brisbane Mayor Graham Quirk. Instead, Miles planned to upgrade an existing rugby stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies and renovate an older facility in the city’s southern outskirts, built for the 1982 Commonwealth Games, to serve as the track and field venue.
Quirk argued that a new stadium at Victoria Park, on former council-owned golf course land, would cost slightly more than the full Gabba rebuild but offer better operational efficiencies.
Crisafulli, who ran for election late last year with a promise of no new stadiums, quickly instituted another 100-day review after taking power for the Liberal-National coalition. His cabinet approved the recommendations on Monday.
A croc, or not? Ahead of the venue announcements, local media reported that rowing would take place on the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton on the central Queensland coast, where crocodiles are often sighted.
Crisafulli confirmed the proposed Fitzroy River venue, noting that numerous events, including Australia's pre-Olympic rowing camps, had been held there. He added that local children swam and paddled in the river most weekends, and crocodiles posed no real threat.
Rowing Australia stated that media concerns about crocodiles had been exaggerated but raised some concerns regarding the river's current. Liveris mentioned that World Rowing would visit the organisers in May.
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He also downplayed any concerns about crocodiles at the rowing venue, saying, “There’s sharks in the ocean and we still do sailing and we still do surfing. It’s a bit kind of Hollywood-ish. I’m not worried about crocodiles.”