Add Category
A multi-billion-dollar redevelopment of Brisbane's Gabba stadium was not necessary for the city to host the 2032 Olympic Games, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has told a senate committee.
The organisation's chief executive, Matt Carroll, told the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee that the $2.7 billion rebuild was not required by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and that the IOC's view was that infrastructure should not be built "just for the Olympics".
Mr Carroll was asked who was accountable to make sure the Games went ahead, after Victoria pulled out of the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
He was also questioned about the decision to move the East Brisbane State School to accommodate the Games.
Mr Carroll said the redeveloped Gabba's "primary" use would be to host AFL and cricket matches.
"The IOC does not require you to build new venues unless you really need them," he said.
"The Olympic movement is saying the decision is 'if you don't have one, and want to build a new one, make sure it is not just for the Olympics'. And that's what the Gabba rebuild is about."
When asked to confirm his comments about the Gabba needing only a "coat of paint" in a speech to the National Press Club, Mr Carroll said it was "an answer to a question put by a journalist at the time" and that his reference was "to the IOC and not the actual project".
Greens' Senator Penny Allman-Payne then asked Mr Carroll to confirm the IOC's assessment that a proposal for seven new venues for the Games could be reduced to two, through "venue master plan optimisation".
"So would it be fair to say the decision to knock down the Gabba and rebuild it is not actually optimising the master plan, in fact, incurring a huge cost of an additional $2.7 billion is not actually required even on the view of the IOC?" she added.
Mr Carroll replied: "It is a decision of government to decide on that venue."