Forget crocs in the river... a much bigger storm is brewing ahead of Brisbane’s Olympic venue reveal

Cannolis over coffees, crocodiles up in Rocky, political backflips, a five-ring circus and a seven-year itch.

Discussion surrounding infrastructure can be bland but on the eve of a blockbuster announcement in Brisbane regarding the 2032 Olympics, the water-cooler chat has been wide and diverse.

More than 1300 days after Brisbane earned the honour of becoming the third Australian city to host an Olympics, and with the clock ticking, another plan of action is set to be enacted on Tuesday.

FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

Given the decision on venues will have a significant impact on Brisbane, it is scarcely surprising the debate surrounding the impact of the Olympics on the Queensland capital have been coloured by emotion and heat, with missteps and false starts a common feature.

It was reported on Monday that the rowing events will be held on the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, a body of water known to be frequented by crocodiles.

But with expectations the Queensland Government will green light a new 60,000-seat stadium in Victoria Park, and potentially a new swimming pool as well, a storm is expected.

Brisbane Bold 2032 design by Archipelago Architects for the proposed Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games venue at Victoria Park - National Aquatics Centre Picture Archipelago Architects Source: Supplied

There was an outcry when it was announced back in 2021 that the Gabba would be redeveloped, with even tenants including the Lions and Queensland Cricket mindful that would be akin to pouring good money after bad given the stadium’s use-by date has arrived.

When it was revealed a couple of years later that the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre, which played a starring role in the 1982 Commonwealth Games, was the frontrunner, hand-wringing ensued.

Brisbane would become a “global embarrassment”, it was claimed, for hosting an Olympics at a second-rate venue following the fanfare at the Stade de France in Paris last year and what is expected from the Los Angeles Games to be held at the Coliseum in 2028.

Surely Matilda, the gigantic Kangaroos mascot for the 1982 event, would not offer a wink to the world once again as it did for the Commonwealth Games? And if so, the IOC would have a right to feel hoodwinked for trusting Brisbane to host the Olympics.

The Victoria Park Stadium was the solution backed by an extensive review by ex-Lord Mayor Graham Quirk but the former Labor Government led by Steve Miles backed away from the plan given the cost.

While campaigning for office, new Premier David Crisafulli promised there would be no new stadium built, which is in alignment with new Olympic thinking regarding sustainability given other host cities have seen venues waste away with little use or value.

On winning government, Crisafulli ordered a new 100 day review … with the findings to be delivered on Tuesday. But opposition forces are forming once again for yet more fighting.

Victoria Park to be renovated for 2032? | 01:59

CANNOLIS AND COOPERATION IN CANBERRA

Crisafulli was in Canberra on Monday for a meeting with the Australian Government regarding public school funding but the five-ringed Olympic circus was a hot topic.

At a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Queensland Premier said the pair had shared cannolis while chatting about the games.

“I’m on Team Queensland and of course there has been strong negotiations between two people of Italian descent — you would expect that — but there is nothing that cannot be solved over a bit of common sense and a cannoli,” Crisafulli said in Canberra on Monday.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA. March 24, 2025. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli Source: Supplied

With the federal government covering half of the $7.1 billion budget for the Brisbane Olympics, and the leaders from both governments determined not to blow out the costs, cooperation between leaders of different political colours is vital for progression.

But when it came to discussing specifics associated with the Brisbane Olympics, the Queensland Premier was coy ahead of the announcement on Tuesday.

“I reckon if I told you and I didn’t save it for tomorrow, I would be in a bit of strife from my (Queensland press) gallery, but we’ve got a plan, and it is a plan to make sure we do deliver generational infrastructure, and it is a plan to make sure we do host a great Games when the eyes of the world are on us,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Albanese backs indoor Olympic venue | 02:17

CHANGE IS IN THE WIND

The only certainty when it comes to the announcement tomorrow is that there will be significant changes to the initial plan that was proposed when Brisbane won the hosting rights back in 2021.

The Courier-Mail, which is hosting the event on Tuesday, reported that six of the 14 venues initially slated to host events for Brisbane 2032 will be scrapped based on the new review.

The announcement of the new Victoria Park Stadium will be welcomed by many including the Brisbane Lions and Cricket Queensland, which are on record supporting a new home.

The Lions are riding high as reigning premiers and regularly push capacity at the Gabba, which was identified by the Quirk review as being at the end of its life with several flaws.

It would mean a new home for Test cricket, among other major events in Brisbane, but as Lions chief executive Greg Swann noted last year, a new stadium has worked in Perth and could do wonders for banana benders as well.

“We think it looks fantastic. It covers off a whole lot of stuff,” he said.

“Obviously, the focus is the stadium for us, but the way that proposal flows, there’s education facilities, there’s hospitals, there’s green space. It just looks something that you would like to think governments of all persuasions will chase it to ground.

“We’re lucky enough to go and see other stadiums (and) we’ve seen what Perth Stadium’s done, what happens in Adelaide, and those brand new stadiums bring people to the city.”

Brisbane Bold 2032 design by Archipelago Architects for the proposed Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games venue at Victoria Park - National Aquatics Centre Picture Archipelago Architects Source: Supplied

A new stadium may be great for tourism, but it will not be an easy sell for the Crisafulli Government based on his pre-election statements and also prospective legal ramifications.

He is walking a political tightrope regarding the announcement, but a second review backing a new stadium arguably strengthens his government’s case for a change in mind.

The Guardian has reported that former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman will be among a diverse cohort who will challenge any development in the greenlands area. Legal sharks are already circling.

“The community (opposition) at the Gabba is going to pale in comparison to what is going to happen in Victoria Park,” Queensland University of Technology urban planning expert Mark Limb told The Guardian.

“People are already drawn into their positions without having an official position to respond against yet. People are craving a bit of rigour and trust in the process behind this stuff, but that is what you get when it is all behind closed doors.”

WILL THE GOLDEN GOOSES OF AUSTRALIAN SPORT EARN A PERMANENT HOME?

For a nation that has excelled in the pool, there has been a raging debate about the legacy of the Brisbane Olympics and what it means for the next generation of Aussie swimmers.

Various proposals have gained traction before receding in recent years.

Initially a temporary pool was going to be built above the Roma Street Railway Station, but Australia’s golden greats were aghast that a more permanent legacy would not be created.

Swimming Australia has reportedly argued for a purpose built facility near Victoria Park that can host several water sports.

SA chief executive Rob Woodhouse, a bronze medallist in the individual medley in Los Angeles in 1984, raised the grand contribution of the Dolphins in a mission statement released last Friday also backed by Diving Australia and Water Polo Australia.

“Swimming Australia has consistently advocated for legacy outcomes from the 2032 Games throughout this process,” he said.

“The Dolphins will always proudly represent Australia, but the legacy they deliver at the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games will be lost immediately without an investment now in this critically needed aquatic infrastructure which the National Aquatics Centre will provide for 40-50 years beyond the Games.

“This is the greatest opportunity we have to deliver a true Olympic and Paralympic legacy — for the aquatic sports and the community — from the 2032 Games. If there is no investment in the NAC, it will be a missed opportunity to deliver an aquatics venue that Brisbane desperately needs.”

Swimming Australia CEO Rob Woodhouse. Picture: Delly Carr Source: News Corp Australia

Australian swimmer Robert Woodhouse training for the national shortcourse swimming championships, 01 Mar 1990. Source: News Corp Australia

But the 100-day review is said to argue that a drop-in pool should instead be the preferred option in a new 17-000 seat arena that would be built at the Station Square site under development opposite the Gabba.

And as for the Gabba? The landlocked venue would serve as a secondary stadium during the Olympics before being bulldozed, enabling the area to be repurposed.

The Courier-Mail reports a new Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre, which would have hosted basketball, will be also scrapped. How Suncorp Stadium will be used remains clouded, with the prospect of a new stadium being built at Perry Lakes for football.

Tennis Australia is desperate for a smaller second stadium to be built at Pat Rafter Arena — this predates Brisbane winning the Olympics — and it has been argued tennis could be held in Melbourne, but it is likely the Tennyson site will be reimagined.

An upgrade costed at $113 million will be required for the site to meet standards set by the International Tennis Federation.

The Toowoomba Showgrounds, meanwhile, could host the cross-country equestrian amid reports that the Brisbane Showgrounds are now being considered for an Olympic Village in place of Northshore Hamilton given the potential savings involved.

The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast remain likely to have some involvement, with the mayors of both regions offering cash to help with the assistance of building facilities.

And as for rowers dodging crocs in Rockhampton, Fitzroy Rowing Club President Sarah Black said in January there may be some, gasp, sensationalism surrounding the claims.

The Australian team used the course to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics and there are plans to do the same for the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

“The Fitzroy is a natural habitat for crocodiles, we’re well aware of that. Some of the reports in the media have been sensationalised, with comments around it being crocodile infested,” Black said.

5 time Olympian new IOC president | 03:14

THE CLOCK IS TICKING

For all the talk of crocs, Graham Quirk said that in order for the Brisbane Olympics to avoid becoming a crock, it is important for the stage to get cracking.

Seven years may sound like a long lead-in period but with scarcely a sod being turned in four years, time is wasting away and the pressure is beginning to mount.

“Time has been ticking and we’re now in a situation where human resources and costs of projects are significant factors in getting this bill done,” he told the Today Show.

“We are going to see good investment in Brisbane, it will be investment for Brisbane and Queensland which will help young people. We will also see improved outcomes for public transport. We just have to wait and see what comes out (on Tuesday).”

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - APRIL 17, 2024. Former Brisbane Mayor Graham Quirk during a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport in Brisbane. The committee discussed Australia’s preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire Source: News Corp Australia

Click here to read article