A special taskforce will be assembled to capitalise on “the single greatest transformative opportunity in the history of the Sunshine Coast’’.
The idea is being driven by Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien, the Prime Minister’s representative on the successful South-East Queensland 2032 Olympic bid committee.
The Sunshine Coast had an enormous involvement in the coup, with Mayor Mark Jamieson playing a key role and being part of the first meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach in Sydney in 2015 to discuss the potential of an SEQ Games.
Mr O’Brien hosted a recent forum at Maroochydore Surf Club – by zoom from Canberra – to gauge interest in the establishment of a united body to “maximise the benefits’’ of the mega event.
He said it would deliver big rewards for the preceding decade and for decades to come.
“We invited representatives from all three tiers of government (of different political persuasions) and from both Sunshine Coast Council and Noosa Council, together with representatives from a range of business and sporting groups across the Sunshine Coast and Noosa LGAs,” Mr O’Brien said.
“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The big question we looked at was: what does the Sunshine Coast hope to get out of this?”
Mr O’Brien said the enormous array of objectives raised included better “hard infrastructure”, such as road and rail connections to Brisbane, and an improved internal transport network.
However, he said there were much broader opportunities raised, such as enhancing the health and wellbeing of locals, creating an environment that was more accessible for older and less able members of the community and using the momentum to boost volunteerism.
“This is the single greatest transformative opportunity in our region’s history,” Mr O’Brien said.
“There is no guarantee we will get facilities. We have to work at it, be smart and, above all, be united.
“We can’t sit by and wait for the Games to fit us – we need to take control of our destiny and make us fit the Games.
“We also have to mitigate the risk of white elephants.”
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The next steps are to define the terms of reference for the taskforce, which might comprise a management committee of 10 members and a series of sub-committees looking at various aspects.
An Expression of Interest process will then follow to form the Taskforce.
Stay tuned to Sunshine Coast News for more developments.
The Sunshine Coast is scheduled to host Olympic and Paralympic outdoor events such as cycling, mountain biking, athletics and sailing, as well as football and basketball.
In addition, the new Maroochydore Central Business District – currently under construction – will be the venue for a satellite athletes’ village.
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