Australia's Queensland to resume Brisbane 2032 Games bid

[December 07, 2020]    MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's northeastern state of Queensland will resume work on Brisbane's bid for the 2032 Olympics after shelving the project for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said on Monday.

State premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would discuss funding arrangements for the bid with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a national cabinet meeting on Friday.

"It's a partnership, so there was an agreement that the two governments would put the money into that, so I’m happy to have those further discussions with the Prime Minister," she told reporters.

Palaszczuk added that the state's Olympics taskforce would reconvene in 2021 to work on the bid, which is centred on Brisbane but also involves staging events on the nearby Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

A number of countries have expressed interest in making a bid for 2032, including Germany, Spain, India, Indonesia and a joint bid from North and South Korea.

"Our bid in comparison to the rest of the world is a very strong bid,” Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates told reporters.

"Most importantly is the support of the three levels of government, good community support, and the fact the timing is the right opportunity to come out of COVID and to create jobs and to create growth.

“It’s a good purpose that the IOC will be impressed with."

Morrison met with International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach in Japan last month to discuss the Brisbane bid as well as the Tokyo Games, which were postponed to next year.

Paris is hosting the 2024 Games with Los Angeles confirmed for 2028.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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