Olympic leaders in Brisbane promote policies to keep 2032 Games safe from financial wrongdoing
The Olympic rings are displayed outside the basketball arena in the Olympic Park before the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, on July 15, 2012. Olympic organizers from Australia said Wednesday, June 28, 2023 they have safeguards in place to stop the 2032 Brisbane Games joining Paris, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro under investigation for financial wrongdoing. Credit: AP/Jae Hong
GENEVA — Olympic organizers from Australia said Wednesday they have safeguards in place to stop the 2032 Brisbane Games ever joining Paris, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro under investigation for financial wrongdoing.
One week after Paris authorities raided offices and homes linked to organizing the 2024 Olympics, Brisbane officials were at the IOC in Switzerland for a first detailed progress meeting on their own project.
Brisbane would be “standing tall in the highest standards,” organizing committee president Andrew Liveris told reporters in an online briefing.
“We have to. In fact, if we don’t do that then we should not be there,” he said, pointing to “a robust fraud and code of conduct policy” already in place with compliance training for senior management.
In Paris, Olympic officials are under scrutiny for suspected favoritism in how contracts were awarded rather than the kind of bribery that tainted Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo held in 2021.
A Summer Games typically involves hundreds of contracts linked to the multi-billion dollar operations for organizers, plus billions more in construction and security costs mostly met by taxpayers.
“We’re subject to Queensland government procurement standards,” Liveris said of Brisbane’s home state.
Reporters work outside the headquarters of the Paris Olympic organizers, Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. French investigators searched the headquarters of Paris Olympic organizers on Tuesday in a probe into suspected corruption, according to the national financial prosecutor's office. Credit: AP/Thomas Padilla
Brisbane organizers’ operating budget is set at 5 billion Australian dollars ($3.3 billion). The IOC contributes cash and services that amounted to nearly $1.9 billion for Tokyo.
Organizers’ revenue including ticket, sponsorship and merchandise sales has a target set at $1.7 billion (2.5 billion Australian dollars), Brisbane 2032 chief executive Cindy Hook said.
Liveris acknowledged that by global standards Australia is a “small commercial market” while Brisbane and Queensland have to build their reputation for a high standard of living.
“We have a wonderful part of the world but not as well-known as maybe it needs to be,” he said. “So that means we have to find innovative ways to bring sponsors to the table.”
Activists display a banner which reads "Let's extinguish the flame" as they protest against the Paris 2024 Olympic games near the Pantheon in Paris, Friday, June 23, 2023. French police searched the Paris Olympic organizers' headquarters on Tuesday, June 20, 2024 as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the Games, according to prosecutors, the third straight time graft allegations have dogged a Summer Olympics. Credit: AP/Thomas Padilla
Big-ticket projects for 2032 include the federally backed Brisbane Arena that will later stage swimming and a state-funded rebuild of the storied cricket ground known as the Gabba. It will host track and field and potentially the opening and closing ceremonies.
“There is no commitment there to make that cost neutral to the taxpayer because that’s for the taxpayers’ benefit,” Liveris said.
Brisbane also seeks inspiration from the 2000 Sydney Olympics that was a stage for Cathy Freeman, who lit the cauldron and then ran to 400-meter gold, who has Indigenous Australian family roots.
Liveris set a target of “the most inclusive games ever, with great equal access with all, with a strong and special emphasis on First Nations and celebrating the world’s oldest living culture.”
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