Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was pretty excited yesterday morning—I was—because I heard that the Queensland Labor Premier had committed $10 million to match the Prime Minister's commitment of $10 million in support of the South-East Queensland bid for the Olympic Games in 2032. But do you know what? There was a hitch. There was bit of a problem. The $10 million offered by the Premier actually wasn't real money. It was—wait for it—an 'in-kind contribution' by her state bureaucrats for doing—what?—further assessments so that she can make a decision next year sometime as to whether or not we go for the games. We had Melbourne hosting the games over 60 years ago; Sydney, what, 20 years ago; and today the Queensland Premier lacks confidence in the capacity of her own state to host the games in 2032. Time kills deals. We are in a beautiful spot right now to take first-group advantage. On this day, one year from now, the Tokyo Olympics begin. We need to put forward a compelling proposition, but we can only do that with 'Team Queensland' at the table, and that is why we are calling on the Queensland Premier to get on the blocks and join the team.