I'm reading lots of headlines saying thst this is an embarrassment. However almost everyone at my work, here & on reddit seem really happy the the commonwealth games have been cancelled.
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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Before this it was all about how much money was being wasted on the games. Now the goal posts are just moved.
At least we know this is better for the state.
Official statement was that the promised housing and sports facilities were still going ahead, just not the games themselves so win/win
Yeah, opposition (and parroted by the media) is calling it an 'embarrassment' but IMO it's a great thing. Money better spent elsewhere.
I agree it's probably the right thing to not host, especially given the ROI is bad (at least according to some other states...)
But even though I think it's a good thing, it is an embarrassment.
Announcing that you're going to host, putting money / effort state-wide into preparing, and then dropping it is embarrassing. It sends a message that you can't adequately plan for large events, and that your commitments aren't worth much. I can't really blame the opposition for trying to make some hay from it.
Worth noting that they only looked at it because nobody else would host it for the same reasons they're dropping it now. Once fully costed figures were in it didn't make sense.
The Commonwealth Games themselves need to rethink their entire approach if they want to continue to exist entirely.
As a Brisbanite, this makes me wonder...what are the conditions of the contract with the Commonwealth Games, and how do they compare to the Olympic Games? Would it be this simple for a future Brisbane Council/Qld Government to decide to axe the Brisbane Olympics?
Brisbane won the Olympics on an everything-is-already-built-so-no-blow-out-in-cost-likely campaign, and they were basically the only credible bid so got it with no contest. I think the Gabba is being upgraded because it was due for a face-lift anyway. Something like that - bris olympics is different situation.
And I think Bris Olympics only lacks accommodation facilities which will be built, then those apartments will very much help with the housing crisis after Olympics, so it all works and helps the city in the long run.
And pretty large satellite cities share the load, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, is a point of difference also.
Thats's my vague understanding, but don't quote me.
That was definitely how it was sold, for sure. It seems to be rather less true in practice than it actually was stated, though. Among the works being done:
- A complete rebuild of the Gabba. Not a "face-lift", but a complete demolition and rebuild.
- The school near the Gabba to be completely shut down to make way for an athletics warmup track, with its "replacement" to be located in a completely different catchment area
- The new final form of the planned Victoria Park/Barrambin upgrades to be delayed by essentially half a decade or more to allow for the BMX and cross-country equestrian
- A few other new or upgraded venues that are, at least in my opinion, much less controversial because they're not big-ticket items and will easily be much-used by their sporting community post-Olympics.
I'm actually pretty pro-Olympics in general, especially compared to the majority of the Brisbane threddiverse, but these specifically are problems that do bug me.
The Olympic Committee specifically asked for bids that emphasized no-budget-blowouts due to many previous Olympics essentially bankrupting cities and the bad rep that was causing to the Olympics brand, and Brisbane's bid was the only one that stacked up to scrutiny, is what I understand. So at least it wasn't just politicians by themselves blowing smoke up are collective arses for a change - there was some kind of scrutiny.
I think the Gabba is a special case. They have been wanting to expand/fix the Gabba district for ages - the two 4-lane roads on either side that the back of the stands over-hang has been a problem forever. Olympics has given them a chance to fix the whole thing, link it up with the river better. They put in the bus tunnels to fix access fairly recently. Adelaide Oval had similar growing pains - that stadium put in large sail structures back in the 2000's that were completely redone only 5 or 10 years later. The Gabba is a signature bit of infrastructure in the inner city worth doing - they will probably use it for big concerts and so on. The whole of the inner Brisbane city is coming along nicely, Southbank and bikeway upgrades and bridges, docks - it's getting there.
The Olympics aren't the Commonwealth games, it's a global audience - think commonwealth games + china, north and south america, the rest of Europe. And Brisbane is an obscure city on the world stage, but has amazing weather and natural tourists attraction, theme parks - I think Brisbane will get value for money, put it on the map.
I feel like the Olympics are more complicated. That is a world event and commonwealth is just the British empire
I’m mildly disappointed but if it’s too expensive let’s not spend money on vanity projects
As someone originally from rural Victoria, I get it if it's going to be that much more expensive.