House debates

Thursday, 25 February 2021

Statements by Members

Queensland: Olympic and Paralympic Games

1:32 pm

Photo of Jim ChalmersJim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | | Hansard source

It's a real pleasure to be here with Queensland colleagues to welcome the inspired decision and announcement made overnight by the International Olympic Committee that South-East Queensland is the preferred venue for the 2032 summer games. This is an incredibly exciting development. Of course there are still hurdles to jump and there is still further to go, but a successful Olympic bid for South-East Queensland means more jobs and more opportunities for more Australians, not just in the south-east corner of our state but right throughout regional Queensland and right throughout Australia.

It's not hard to imagine the benefits, in terms of jobs, opportunities, infrastructure and trade, and the reputational benefits, like that which we got from the successful games in 2000 and 1956. All of this is before us in the event that this bid is successful. The state government says the Olympic Games will bring something like 130,000 additional jobs to our state and more than $20 billion into the economy, $10 billion for regional areas and $8.6 billion in trade opportunities. This is an extraordinary opportunity. We welcome it and we congratulate the IOC, the state government, the involvement by the feds, the local governments, the South-East Queensland Council of Mayors and others. Well done. Let's win this, and let's win the jobs and opportunities that come with it.