On your marks: Schrinner eyes decade-long boom

Brisbane could look forward to a decade long investment boom it wins the bid to host the 2032 Olympics, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told a business conference this morning.

He said most people overseas had heard of Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast but they had never heard of Brisbane and that was a key issue if the city wanted to attract investment.

“The last time people heard of us was when we were inundated the 2011 flood,’’ Schrinner said. “People won’t visit your city, won’t invest unless they know your name. This is why I am excited about the Olympics. That simple idea that people need to hear about your city is the critical one.

Schrinner was addressing the Brisbane Business Summit, just a day after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced an ambition, billion-dollar vision to rebuild Brisbane’s famous Gabba stadium into the centrepiece of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

“John Coates (president of the Australian Olympic Committee) told me that half the world’s population will be watching the opening ceremony,” Schrinner said. “But it’s not just about the two weeks of the games. It’s about the decade of investment in the lead-up.

“People will know about our city, they will want to visit. There will be 3.5 billion sets of eyes on Brisbane, southeast Queensland.”

Schrinner said the investment to build for the games would usher in decade of confidence “which will be critical for the city”.

“We have had for too long boom and busts. We have had for too long infrastructure booms and the cycle changes and investment goes elsewhere.

“The opportunity we have as a city is a decade-long boom and building program, a pipeline of work that will continue for the next 10 years and then a legacy that will last for decades.

“Right now, Brisbane is in a position it has never been in before to approach the future with confidence. Confidence is the game changer for business and the city.”

He said the Olympics decision “was literally ours to lose” because Brisbane was the only bidder.

“If you are a Brisbane business you should look to the future full of confidence.”