Fix-all for housing, transport and mental health – but are we already expecting too much from our Olympics?
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he wants the Olympics to deliver positive outcomes in housing and transport but that’s just a fraction of what everyone else wants.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the Gabba before making the City Deal announcement. (AAP Image/Jono Searle)
With the opening ceremony 10 years away from this Saturday, the pressure is already piling on the Games to deliver on everything from Aboriginal employment to mental health.
One thing it won’t achieve is getting rid of the south east freeway from the city.
It was hoped it would be demolished as part of the Queens Wharf development and that came close to being approved. However, getting rid of it and replacing it has been judged to be too much, even for the Games.
The pressure is on talent scouts, too with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying they have already discovered a 16 year old Bundaberg girl who last week broke records in beep tests.
Speaking at a 10-year countdown event for the Games, featuring Schrinner, Federal Sport Minister Annika Wells and AOC President Ian Chesterman, the Premier said the Games could deliver the biggest transformation the state had ever seen and wants the Brisbane River to be a central piece of it.
Australian Olympic Committee president Ian Chesterman said Australia can’t get to 2028 and flick a switch and hope it can deliver the athletes in four years.
“We have to motivate and encourage the 8 year olds, the 10 year olds and the 14 year olds and, if we are talking about skateboarders, the 4 year olds,” Chesterman said.
Federal Minister for Sport Anika Wells said the Games could help in the economic recovery from Covid, boost tourism and diplomacy in the Pacific, help high-performance sport as well as boost preventative health and social cohesion.
Lord Mayor Schrinner said there were a lot of blue sky ideas for the Games.
“We need to bold, we need to think outside the box,” he said.
“It’s that type of thinking that develops a legacy.
“This is just one opportunity to do things differently and think differently.
If you had asked me five years ago you would see people riding around the city on kids’ scooters I would have said no chance,” he said.
However now Brisbane had one of the highest rates of scooter ability.
“If we can leverage the Games to sole some of biggest challenges we will be successful,” he said.
That included first nation aspirations, housing affordabilty, sports participation, mental health accountability and climate change.
“These are the sorts of leegacy issues we should aspire to,” he said.
