City councilors in Brisbane are scheduled to meet next Tuesday (March 23) to formalize Queensland’s bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games and potentially vote to approve the proposal, clearing the path for Australia to host its third edition of the mega-event with an official announcement as early as July.
Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner fast-tracked the meeting – the city’s first extraordinary session in more than a decade – in order to meet International Olympic Committee (IOC) deadlines imposed as part of the ‘targeted dialogue’ bid process launched last month. As part of the new IOC bid process, the Queensland capital has been given an exclusive opportunity to negotiate hosting rights for the Games.
“This will be one of the most momentous Council meetings in Brisbane’s history,” the Mayor said on Twitter.
“This [extraordinary meeting] is a formal step, but this is also an opportunity for everyone to show their formal support for Brisbane being the host city for the 2032 Olympic Games,” Schrinner told reporters according to the Brisbane Times.
“This is something that the IOC will need from us next month. And this is something that we would like to seek the support of all councilors for.”
Schrinner said he expects that a majority of council will provide bipartisan support for the proposal, leading to the successful vote required before the formal bid submission can be sent to the IOC’s Lausanne headquarters next month. Formal approval from the Queensland state government is also required, but expected, before the file is sent to Switzerland.
This updated timeline further indicates that both parties are looking to sign the host contract this year. A signing ceremony could occur as early as July if IOC members, scheduled to meet at a Session in Japan ahead of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Games, give rubberstamp approval.
.@SEQMayors have already invested six years of hard work to get to this point and now it's time to bring The Games home. This will be one of the most momentous Council meetings in #Brisbane’s history. https://t.co/vG1Ik2NZ90
— Adrian Schrinner (@bne_lordmayor) March 15, 2021
The meeting will be used to vet confidential details on venues, infrastructure and other components of the hosting plans with presentations coming from IOC vice president and Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates and Paralympics Australia president Jock O’Callaghan and state and federal government representatives.
Little government resistance is expected against the nationally popular bid proposal that has already received strong support at all levels. An IOC poll taken in January revealed 66 percent of respondents across Australia back the bid with only 14 percent opposed.
The IOC’s decision to single out Brisbane as a preferred candidate for the 2032 Games came as an unpleasant surprise to rivals that had been campaigning amid the new and unfamiliar bid process. Projects from Doha in Qatar, North and South Korea and Germany have already vowed to continue efforts to land the 2032 Games in the event IOC negotiations with Australia collapse.
