'What is going on?' Ex-premier's broadside at Olympics plans
Share and Follow

Former Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has slammed the planning for the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, after the government claimed it had uncovered a reported $3.5 billion cost to build Olympic villages for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie claimed that the previous government allocated only $155 million to the project, while Opposition Leader Cameron Dick said they had been open to working with private investors on the project.

Former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. (Today)

Speaking on Today, Palaszczuk, the former Labor premier of Queensland who secured the Olympics for 2032 and who stepped down as premier in 2023, said she was “shocked” at the situation.

“When I left, we had a plan,” she said.

“We were sticking to the plan, and the tenders would have been out now for the Gabba, and the planning and construction would have been, well, you know, getting into it now.

“So I’m absolutely shocked at the state of this – If I was at the IOC at the moment, I would be saying, ‘What is going on Brisbane?'”

Brisbane skyline, Queensland, Australia
Brisbane is scheduled to host the Olympics in 2032. (Getty)

She said the original plan had been submitted to and approved by the International Olympics Committee, but had since become “unpicked”.

“If you go back to it, (former prime minister) Scott Morrison and I, we agreed on who was going to be on the Olympic Committee. We agreed on the funding. We secured the funding,” she said.

“And now it’s just become this political football.”

4. Melbourne, Australia

This Aussie city was just named the fourth best in the world

Palaszczuk also slammed the push to make Victoria Park a new sporting precinct, pointing to the lack of public transport and the area’s standing as the last piece of “pristine greenness” in Brisbane.

She urged people to work together to ensure the Brisbane Olympics became a source of pride and joy for the whole country.

“The time for fighting is over. I think everyone’s got to sit around a table and this has got to be sorted out,” she said.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like
Tania Henley

Reflecting on a Miracle: Woman Comforts Crying Backpacker with a Hug

German backpacker Carolina Wilga’s incredible story of survival, stuck in the WA…
A sign warning of bubonic plague is displayed at a parking lot near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge in Commerce City, Colorado, USA.

Fatal Case of Plague Reported in the US

A resident of northern Arizona has died from pneumonic plague, health officials…

Concerns persist despite Murujuga rock art being granted World Heritage status

Environmentalists fear the extension of a gas project could jeopardise the future…
Syed Prottoy was in the back passenger seat and his two friends were in the front when their Mazda swerved off a road near Yankalilla on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula at about 3.30pm today.

Cellphone technology notified authorities about a fatal crash that happened in the early morning hours

A young international student who died in a car crash early this…

Murujuga Rock Art Receives UN Approval for World Heritage Designation

An ancient Indigenous rock art collection in Western Australia has been recognised…

The alarming reality of youth detention centers with blood, rats, and self-harm

This article contains distressing content. Tiny, windowless cells with no access to…
Detective reveals fresh details about missing backpacker's rescue

New information uncovered by detective regarding the rescue of the missing backpacker

German backpacker Carolina Wilga had been lost in the Western Australian outback…

Special envoy on antisemitism addresses worries about new proposal promoting a definition deemed unsuitable

Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has dismissed criticism of…