Brisbane Live Arena Plans to Be Axed: Reports
A proposed new concerts and sports arena in the heart of Brisbane will be scrapped this week by the Queensland government, according to fresh reports.
The Brisbane Live Arena was envisioned as a legacy venue for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, a premier multi-purpose space on Roma Street, a short stroll from King George Square.
The 18,000-capacity site was drawn up in late 2018, and presented to the public in August 2022, as part of the city’s Cross River Rail project, and delivered in time for the Olympics.
Those plans are said to have come unstuck.
According to reports published on the weekend, Queensland’s new Coalition government is set to ditch the arena and its entertainment district, while doubling-down on a controversial new 60,000-capacity stadium at Victoria Park, the city’s third after the Brisbane Cricket Ground at Woolloongabba, and the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre at Mount Gravatt.
Those ambitions will likely be confirmed Tuesday, with the public release of the 100-day review into Olympic venue infrastructure.
For the domestic music industry, the timing stinks. Tuesday evening is the Queensland music industry’s annual celebration, the QMAs.
“The news today that the Qld State government is not looking to build any new indoor sports/music venue for the Olympics is alarming,” writes Vivienne Mellish, co-founder and director of GYROstream and president of QMusic, producers of BIGSOUND and the QMAs, on social media.
The proposed complex was drawn up for a derelict spot on Roma Street which sits on the train line between Brisbane’s Central and Milton Station — where locals alight for Suncorp Stadium and the iconic XXXX brewery.
Brisbane Live Arena was the brainchild of Harvey Lister, chairman and chief executive of Brisbane-based ASM Global Asia Pacific (formerly AEG Ogden), which had an exclusive early operator engagement agreement with state government to develop the project’s business case.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese and then-Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk green-lit the build in 2023 as part of a multi-billion-dollar package to create infrastructure for the Olympic and Paralympic Games that would serve the Sunshine State for generations to come.
Through the previously-announced $7 billion redevelopment deal, the Commonwealth would contribute around $3.5 billion, including $2.5 billion for the Brisbane Arena, and a further $1 billion for the new venues and facility upgrades, according to the ABC.
On the weekend, prime minister Anthony Albanese weighed in and reiterated the government’s backing for the new venue, a development that would make Brisbane a two-arena town.
“We support the Brisbane Arena,” Albanese told reporters. “We support an indoor arena. Not just because of what it will do for the Olympics but, importantly, it will provide as well an ongoing indoor venue for things like concerts and other activities.”
He added, “we have $3.4 billion on top of the arena funding. There are 19 different smaller venues that we are providing support for.”
A rep for ASM Global declined to offer comment until an official statement is made by the Crisafulli government.
Brisbane won the rights to host the summer games when the IOC announced in 2021 that the Qld capital was the “preferred candidate city,” thanks to the city’s proven track record for organising international events, with the Commonwealth Games (two, including the Gold Coast), an Expo and the Goodwill Games in its good books.
And critically, the Sunshine State already has up to 90% of the essential pieces of infrastructure in place, including the 13,500-capacity Brisbane Entertainment Centre, which opened its doors for the first time in 1986.