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The federal government has promised to contribute 50% of the
costs of Australia's third Summer Olympics and Colbeck admitted
it had been blindsided by a Queensland government announcement
of a A$1 billion rebuild of Brisbane's Gabba cricket ground.
"It'll probably be a bit more than five (billion), given the
infrastructure for transport and the infrastructure for the
Games," Colbeck told Brisbane radio station 4BC.
"The Gabba announcement was a bit of a surprise to a lot of us,
but that's what's prompted the process that we've put in place
now, the agreement ... with respect to 50/50 funding of the
Game's infrastructure."
The Brisbane bid had placed great emphasis on using existing
venues to stage the Games, including the rebuilt Gabba to host
the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics.
Exactly what costs should be allocated to the Games is always a
matter of some confusion as cities often use the hosting of the
event to upgrade wider city infrastructure.
Beijing organisers claimed an operating profit of 1 billion yuan
($155.93 million) from staging the 2008 Olympics but the cost to
the city, including a new airport and subway line as well as
factory closures, was estimated at $40 billion.
Colbeck said the federal government had made it clear to the
Queensland government that the funding agreement came with
conditions.
"We said, if we're going to be 50% partners, we'll be genuine
50% partners in this entire process," he added.
"That goes to the arrangements that we agree to form the
organising committee, but there's also going to be an
inter-governmental agreement between the states and the
Commonwealth ...
"That will provide us with a genuine partnership in the overall
process of delivery of that infrastructure, including some of
the strategic decision-making that'll be undertaken as well."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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