The seven people who may be the last to advise on Brisbane’s Games plan
By Matt Dennien
The news
Premier David Crisafulli has unveiled the team tasked with carrying out his promised new 100-day review of 2032 Games planning, and the work to make it happen beyond that.
Global commercial property figure Stephen Conry AM will chair the newly renamed Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority, he said.
The full range of seven board directors, made by the state government alone after rushed Thursday law changes to allow the bypassing of other Games partners, are as follows.
Why it matters
An independent authority featured in the Games pitch, was publicly abandoned by the government last year, then promised by Steven Miles amid his elevation to the top job last December.
Crisafulli first proposed the idea of a new 100-day review, should he win the election, after the Miles government’s 60-day venue review led by former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk.
That process struck down a Gabba rebuild and proposed a new stadium be built at Victoria Park – a call rejected by Miles, who turned focus to QSAC, and Crisafulli, for whom the Gabba idea remained.
While the authority was set up under law in May, and an interim chief executive appointed in July, the seven roles were asked to be left vacant by two Games figures to avoid the “political cycle”.
The group now has 100 days to complete their review and hand it to the government, with a draft due at least 14 days before that.Credit: File, LinkedIn, Supplied
What they said
In a statement, Crisafulli said: “This is day 1 of 100 in fixing the Games chaos and locking in a plan for the world’s biggest event … after three years of false starts.”
“This is seven of the best and brightest that are beyond reproach, and they’re not going to hand [in] a report and then run away,” he earlier told a News Corp Future Brisbane panel event.
“They are going to be there to drive it and see it through. And so within 100 days, you are going to have a clear picture.”
Crisafulli also revealed the terms of reference for the review the group would lead, ensuring the right venues were in the right places, and transport connections between them worked.
And that all of this provided a legacy benefit for Queenslanders under an existing $7.1 billion joint 50:50 funding package with the federal government, also in scope of thee review.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who appeared alongside Crisafulli on the panel, later said in a statement the move would be “the catalyst” for the Games “all Queenslanders could be proud of”.
A spokesperson for Schrinner said he supported the appointments and the decision of the state to go it alone on them, but confirmed he had been consulted about them before Friday.
Another perspective
Anika Wells, the Brisbane-based federal Labor government’s Sports Minister, also appeared on the panel.
Asked about the appointments, she said her government had “just learned these names” but looked forward to working with them.
“It’s really important ... as a 50:50 partner in the games, that we are contributing, collaborating and being consulted on these important things.”