Queensland taxpayers were last week treated to new glossy images portraying how $3.5 billion of their money (more realistically double or triple that) will be spent on refashioning one of Brisbane’s most significant inner-city parklands (there aren’t many) into a concrete and turf mecca for professional sports clubs.
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We were led to believe this was going to be a big reveal with many fine and finalised details to be announced … but the reality was once again far less satisfactory.
We learnt the stadium will have an east-west orientation, be located somewhere, still not quite finalised, in the centre of the park and, depending on how gullible you are, you can rest assured it will look nice. We also learned that the whole of Victoria Park / Barrambin will be fenced off from 1 June, with no public access allowed.
Because Victoria Park / Barrambin is fully state heritage listed and holds significant Aboriginal cultural heritage, the development is in direct conflict with the host contract and the International Olympics Committee “new norm” principles.
That outcome was more or less assured after the Queensland government decided to transfer the park in fee simple [full ownership] to the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority.
Currently, the park is vested in Brisbane City Council under a deed of grant in trust for the people of Brisbane.
So, where are we at?
Contrary to the expectations of community members watching this space, the public received no information about the mysterious new national aquatic centre, which – despite the wishes of everyone except Premier David Crisafulli and his closest allies – is slated to be built on the southern half of the park.
The results of drilling tests undertaken late last year were not provided – despite previous assurances they would be made public.
There was no information provided about the project validation report, no engineering and environmental constraints reports, no access and movement studies, no traffic management plan, no site plans and certainly no precinct master plan.
In fact, there is no evidence that any of these standard development protocols has been completed. This is quite a concern, because the federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, recently advised:
Any decision to undertake works prior to a final investment decision is one for the Queensland government and is undertaken at its financial risk. Commonwealth funding will be provided to Queensland post investment decision against agreed milestones.
Pretty pictures aside, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie’s proud claim that “there will be bulldozers” working on the site from 1 June looks somewhat optimistic and decidedly risky. It appears we are still in warm up mode, stalled at the starting line.
Once the race to build finally does get going, it will come as no surprise to anyone – except perhaps the Queensland government – to find out the developers are running an extreme obstacle course rather than making a quick sprint to the finish line.
There was no information provided about the project validation report, no engineering and environmental constraints reports, no access and movement studies, no traffic management plan, no site plans and certainly no precinct master plan.
Here are some of the more fundamental, logistical hurdles for which no solution is in sight, outlined in Neil Peach’s Queensland’s Olympic Strategy:
People movement, ingress and egress: Victoria Park / Barrambinis surrounded by a major hospital, schools and roads. It is steeply sloping terrain with a dangerous goods railway line intersecting the site. These unavoidable facts make safely shepherding Olympic scale pedestrian traffic a logistical nightmare. There remains an unaddressed risk of “static accumulation” where crowd densities exceed safe limits and endanger public safety.
Supply constraints: Having just begun to recover from the supply shortages of the COVID era, the building industry is now predicting, for example, a 43 per cent blowout in the cost and delivery of oil-based piping for water and sewage, as well as higher distribution surcharges for construction materials due to the war in the Middle East.
In a taste of what’s to come, the initial budget for the Victoria Park/Barrambin venues jumped by $1.8 billion (30 per cent) within months of the 2025 funding announcements.
Workforce shortages: In the lead up to the Olympics, the infrastructure program requires a workforce that simply does not exist. Infrastructure Australia and Construction Skills Queensland project a shortage of 50,000–55,000 skilled workers by 2026/27.
Accommodation shortfall: There is a projected net shortfall of 88,500 rooms for visitors during the Olympics Games period.
The IOC requirement for about 40,000 rooms for the “Olympic family” consumes nearly 87 per cent of Southeast Queensland’s entire existing hotel inventory.
Budget constraints: Queensland’s revenue outlook is deteriorating rapidly.
Coal revenues are expected to dive over the next six years while non-financial public sector (NFPS) debt is projected to reach $190.4 billion by 2027-28.
The 2025-26 State Budget forecast a net operating deficit of $8.581 billion, a significant deterioration from previous forecasts.
Finally, it is still worth noting that Clause VEN 08 of the host contract explicitly forbids permanent Olympic construction in statutory cultural protected areas and mandates the prioritisation of previously developed or degraded land over greenfield sites.
Meanwhile, in 2025, the Commonwealth government cut Queensland’s share of the goods and services tax (GST) revenues by $2.292 billion.
Reflecting these risks, S&P Global revised Queensland’s credit rating outlook from “stable” to “negative” in February 2025.
Finally, it is still worth noting that Clause VEN 08 of the host contract explicitly forbids permanent Olympic construction in statutory cultural protected areas and mandates the prioritisation of previously developed or degraded land over greenfield sites.
Because Victoria Park / Barrambin is fully state heritage listed and holds significant Aboriginal cultural heritage, the development is in direct conflict with the host contract and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) “new norm” principles. Community groups are well aware of these fundamental flaws in the current agenda – the fight is not yet over.
When all is said and done, it appears that, six years out from Brisbane 2032, although much has been said, very little has yet been done.
– With thanks for the assistance of Dr Neil Peach, Sustainable Development Researcher and Advocate.