Opposition Leader and born-again jogger Bill Shorten is the latest of Australia’s head honchos to suggest holding the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane might not be such a bad idea.
Referring to the Sunshine State’s newfangled deliberation on a bid to host world’s fanciest athletics carnival, Shorten said it’s “a very interesting idea and we’ll certainly look at it.”
Going a bit further in his QLD back-patting, Shorten said “everyone knows that Queensland contributes more than its fair share of top athletes to our Olympic team and I want to give a shout out to all the Queensland contributors to the Olympic team and in fact, because I’m national Opposition Leader, to all our athletes in Rio.”
It’s not just the pollies who’ve backed the push, though. A recent poll on the issue suggests 62% of respondents are a-okay with the Rings descending on Brissy.
The idea to have a crack at the Olympics was unveiled in July, and the region’s councils are currently umming-and-aahing as to whether they want to chip in to the $2.5M “feasibility bid” pricetag.
If everything eventually comes up roses – and the area’s infrastructure is deemed up to par – they’ll dip into state and federal coffers to fund the Games.
While all of that is in the pipeline, the Gold Coast is holding the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Read: one of the world’s largest sporting events will essentially act as a dry run.
Speaking of Shorten and dry runs…
