Latest news with #NewNorm
GMA Network
24-07-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
Brisbane 2032 on track but with little wiggle room seven years out
A view of the city skyline of Brisbane, the city expected to be announced as host for the 2032 Olympic Games, in Brisbane, Australia. Picture taken July 4, 2021. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo BRISBANE - Andrew Liveris is happy with the progress organizers of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have made so far but concedes they will have little wiggle room if they experience delays while implementing the plans they have been working on for the last three years. The opening ceremony of Australia's third Summer Games will take place exactly seven years from Wednesday, the same period of time that most host cities in the modern era have had from winning the bid to staging the Olympics. Under the International Olympic Committee's New Norm policy, however, Brisbane won hosting rights in 2021 only for political wrangling over the venues to delay the decision on the final plans until March this year. "The venues got a lot of noise," Liveris, president of the Brisbane Organizing Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, told Reuters this week. "The political body was disagreeing on a couple of very big ones and that didn't help, but they got that out of the way and frankly, seven years to go, we have our plans, and I'm happy with where we are ... "Seven years is enough time, but we don't have a lot of wiggle room." Liveris is cautious about what impact global economic changes and trends over the next few years might have on the budgets and timelines for the main venue construction projects. "With 84% of our venues being existing or temporary, we're mostly in good shape," he added. "But the 16% includes the stadium, includes the aquatic centre, it includes a few very important venues. That would be the biggest challenge we have." There was little evidence around the city this week that the world's biggest sporting event was coming to southeast Queensland in seven years' time. At the Centenary Pool, which will be redeveloped to host aquatic events in 2032, mainly elderly club amateurs swam laps, read newspapers and sipped coffee in the winter sunshine. Across a footbridge where the main 63,000-seater stadium for the Games will be built, the larger part of Victoria Park remained a green preserve of dog walkers, picnickers and school sports lessons. The decision to construct the two biggest new venues in a heritage-listed city centre park with special significance for the local indigenous Turrbal and Yugara peoples has triggered fierce local opposition. The Save Victoria Park campaign, which has been raising money for a legal challenge, maintains that the stadium plan goes directly against bid commitments on sustainability and First Nations rights. "It's not that we're anti-Olympics or anti-stadium, it's just that we don't believe this is a suitable site," spokesperson Andrea Lunt told Reuters. "It's going to concrete over this gorgeous, pristine parkland for an Olympics that is supposed to be sustainable." The Queensland state government last month enacted legislation to exempt the Olympic building projects from normal planning rules but Liveris said the concerns of the campaigners would still be addressed. "I'm not saying that they won't be heard," he said. "Everyone's going to get some accommodation, and the government's going to have to be seen to be saying, 'okay, we understand the concerns, here's how we're going to mitigate them'." GROWING PAINS Liveris went to school and university in Brisbane before building a highly successful career around the world with multinational corporation Dow Chemicals, which he served as chairman and chief executive for 14 years. While the 71-year-old has overseen multi-billion dollar projects before, his current role also involves work that can be less easily managed with spreadsheets and a firm hand. Near the top of his in-tray is how to engender the enthusiasm of the people in Australia's fastest growing region for the Olympics. Liveris said Brisbane had learned a lot from how Paris went about engaging its people for the 2024 Olympics and thought the excitement would grow as the benefits of the Games became more evident. "What Queensland is going through, southeast Queensland in particular, is growing pains," he said. "I think a lot of people want to see better infrastructure, want to see their lives getting better. And I think this is where the Olympics can enable that by accelerating that infrastructure." Liveris was recently re-appointed for another four-year term as president of the organising committee and said, health permitting, he was keen to keep going all the way to July 23, 2032. "People around me know I'm pretty high energy, I'm pretty high enthusiasm and caffeine is a really good fuel," he laughed. "I'm treating this like it's the whole way, and we'll see where it takes me. But right now, I'm going to get this job done that's my mission." —Reuters
The Star
23-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Olympics-Brisbane 2032 on track but with little wiggle room seven years out
BRISBANE (Reuters) -Andrew Liveris is happy with the progress organisers of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have made so far but concedes they will have little wiggle room if they experience delays while implementing the plans they have been working on for the last three years. The opening ceremony of Australia's third Summer Games will take place exactly seven years from Wednesday, the same period of time that most host cities in the modern era have had from winning the bid to staging the Olympics. Under the International Olympic Committee's New Norm policy, however, Brisbane won hosting rights in 2021 only for political wrangling over the venues to delay the decision on the final plans until March this year. "The venues got a lot of noise," Liveris, president of the Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, told Reuters this week. "The political body was disagreeing on a couple of very big ones and that didn't help, but they got that out of the way and frankly, seven years to go, we have our plans, and I'm happy with where we are ... "Seven years is enough time, but we don't have a lot of wiggle room." Liveris is cautious about what impact global economic changes and trends over the next few years might have on the budgets and timelines for the main venue construction projects. "With 84% of our venues being existing or temporary, we're mostly in good shape," he added. "But the 16% includes the stadium, includes the aquatic centre, it includes a few very important venues. That would be the biggest challenge we have." There was little evidence around the city this week that the world's biggest sporting event was coming to southeast Queensland in seven years' time. At the Centenary Pool, which will be redeveloped to host aquatic events in 2032, mainly elderly club amateurs swam laps, read newspapers and sipped coffee in the winter sunshine. Across a footbridge where the main 63,000-seater stadium for the Games will be built, the larger part of Victoria Park remained a green preserve of dog walkers, picnickers and school sports lessons. The decision to construct the two biggest new venues in a heritage-listed city centre park with special significance for the local indigenous Turrbal and Yugara peoples has triggered fierce local opposition. The Save Victoria Park campaign, which has been raising money for a legal challenge, maintains that the stadium plan goes directly against bid commitments on sustainability and First Nations rights. "It's not that we're anti-Olympics or anti-stadium, it's just that we don't believe this is a suitable site," spokesperson Andrea Lunt told Reuters. "It's going to concrete over this gorgeous, pristine parkland for an Olympics that is supposed to be sustainable." The Queensland state government last month enacted legislation to exempt the Olympic building projects from normal planning rules but Liveris said the concerns of the campaigners would still be addressed. "I'm not saying that they won't be heard," he said. "Everyone's going to get some accommodation, and the government's going to have to be seen to be saying, 'okay, we understand the concerns, here's how we're going to mitigate them'." GROWING PAINS Liveris went to school and university in Brisbane before building a highly successful career around the world with multinational corporation Dow Chemicals, which he served as chairman and chief executive for 14 years. While the 71-year-old has overseen multi-billion dollar projects before, his current role also involves work that can be less easily managed with spreadsheets and a firm hand. Near the top of his in-tray is how to engender the enthusiasm of the people in Australia's fastest growing region for the Olympics. Liveris said Brisbane had learned a lot from how Paris went about engaging its people for the 2024 Olympics and thought the excitement would grow as the benefits of the Games became more evident. "What Queensland is going through, southeast Queensland in particular, is growing pains," he said. "I think a lot of people want to see better infrastructure, want to see their lives getting better. And I think this is where the Olympics can enable that by accelerating that infrastructure." Liveris was recently re-appointed for another four-year term as president of the organising committee and said, health permitting, he was keen to keep going all the way to July 23, 2032. "People around me know I'm pretty high energy, I'm pretty high enthusiasm and caffeine is a really good fuel," he laughed. "I'm treating this like it's the whole way, and we'll see where it takes me. But right now, I'm going to get this job done that's my mission." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
IOC confident that Brisbane on track for 2032 Olympic Games
IOC President-elect Kirsty Coventry speaking as IOC Coordination Commission members attend a press conference for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on May 22. PHOTO: EPA-EFE – The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) confidence that Brisbane organisers were on the 'right path' to host the 2032 Olympics has been reaffirmed by a three-day visit to the city by the coordination commission, its new chief said on May 22. Former showjumper Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski officially took over during the visit from IOC president-elect Kirsty Coventry as chair of the commission, which oversees preparations for the Games on behalf of the Olympic movement. 'Through our regular engagement with the organising committee, we are confident that Brisbane 2032 is on the right path,' Jaworski told a news conference in Brisbane. 'This week gave us meaningful opportunity to witness progress first-hand and to reaffirm our commitment to Games that will leave a lasting legacy for the community and place Brisbane confidently on the world stage.' Jaworski said the example of the legacies for Melbourne and Sydney when those cities hosted the Games in 1956 and 2000 should convince waverers in Brisbane of how beneficial the Olympics would be for the city. 'Melbourne has hosted, and Sydney has hosted, and there's certainly legacy there. There's a lot of goodwill globally remembering these cities as hosts, and I think we can count on Brisbane... being brought to the world stage (if) we have a successful Games,' she said. Since the last meeting of the coordination commission, the Queensland government has published its third, and what it says will be the final, venue plan for the Games. Despite bid commitments on sustainability in line with the IOC's 'New Norm' reforms for host cities, the plan included the building of a new Olympic stadium and a national aquatics centre in an inner city Brisbane park. 'When you talk about the 'New Norm', one of the key things is about the Games being part of the city or the host. It's not about turning the host into what the Games need, but the other way around,' Jaworski said in answering a question about the changes. Local organising committee chief Andrew Liveris said it had been a relief to finally get a plan in place his team could enact, even if he did not think any ground would be broken on the big new venues until the end of 2026. He said: 'I love to plan and implement. It's really hard to plan when the plan keeps moving on you, right? So our job now is to create certainty out of this plan. There's work to do on that.' 'We're not out of the woods completely, but we are mostly out of the woods, and we have certainty around some pretty big decisions,' he added Liveris said all the venues needed to be completed at least a year before the start of the Games and accepted that issues of labour shortages in Australia's construction industry and local building constraints were a concern. 'We are part of a bigger problem, and one that has to be solved by the current (Queensland) government. They're very dedicated to doing it,' he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
GMA Network
22-05-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
IOC confident that Brisbane on track for 2032 Olympics
SYDNEY - The International Olympic Committee's confidence that Brisbane organizers were on the right path to host the 2032 Olympics has been reaffirmed by a three-day visit to the city by the coordination commission, its new chief said on Thursday. Former showjumper Mikee Cojuangco Jaworski officially took over during the visit from IOC President-elect Kirsty Coventry as chair of the commission, which oversees preparations for the Games on behalf of the Olympic movement. "Through our regular engagement with the organising committee, we are confident that Brisbane 2032 is on the right path," Jaworski told a news conference in Brisbane. "This week gave us meaningful opportunity to witness progress firsthand and to reaffirm our commitment to Games that will leave a lasting legacy for the community and place Brisbane confidently on the world stage." Jaworski said the example of the legacies for Melbourne and Sydney when those cities hosted the Games in 1956 and 2000 should convince waverers in Brisbane of how beneficial the Olympics would be for the city. "Melbourne has hosted, and Sydney has hosted, and there's certainly legacy there," she said. "There's a lot of goodwill globally remembering these cities as hosts, and I think we can count on Brisbane ... being brought to the world stage (if) we have a successful Games." Since the last meeting of the coordination commission, the Queensland government has published its third, and what it says will be the final, venue plan for the Games. Despite bid commitments on sustainability in line with the IOC's "New Norm" reforms for host cities, the plan included the building of a new Olympic stadium and a national aquatics centre in an inner city Brisbane park. "When you talk about the 'New Norm', I think one of the key things is about the Games being part of the city or the host," Jaworski said in answering a question about the changes. "It's not about turning the host into what the Games need, but the other way around. So it is unique." CREATE CERTAINTY Local organizing committee chief Andrew Liveris said it had been a relief to finally get a plan in place his team could enact, even if he did not think any ground would be broken on the big new venues until the end of 2026. "I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face (since the announcement)," he said. "I love to plan and implement. It's really hard to plan when the plan keeps moving on you, right? So our job now is to create certainty out of this plan. There's work to do on that. "We're not out of the woods completely, but we are mostly out of the woods, and we have certainty around some pretty big decisions." Liveris said all the venues needed to be completed at least a year before the start of the Games and accepted that issues of labour shortages in Australia's construction industry and local building constraints were a concern. "We are part of a bigger problem, and one that has to be solved by the current (Queensland) government," Liveris said. "They're very dedicated to doing it." —Reuters
The Star
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Olympics-IOC confident that Brisbane on track for 2032 Summer Games
SYDNEY (Reuters) -The International Olympic Committee's confidence that Brisbane organisers were on the right path to host the 2032 Olympics has been reaffirmed by a three-day visit to the city by the coordination commission, its new chief said on Thursday. Former showjumper Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski officially took over during the visit from IOC President-elect Kirsty Coventry as chair of the commission, which oversees preparations for the Games on behalf of the Olympic movement. "Through our regular engagement with the organising committee, we are confident that Brisbane 2032 is on the right path," Jaworski told a news conference in Brisbane. "This week gave us meaningful opportunity to witness progress firsthand and to reaffirm our commitment to Games that will leave a lasting legacy for the community and place Brisbane confidently on the world stage." Jaworski said the example of the legacies for Melbourne and Sydney when those cities hosted the Games in 1956 and 2000 should convince waverers in Brisbane of how beneficial the Olympics would be for the city. "Melbourne has hosted, and Sydney has hosted, and there's certainly legacy there," she said. "There's a lot of goodwill globally remembering these cities as hosts, and I think we can count on Brisbane ... being brought to the world stage (if) we have a successful Games." Since the last meeting of the coordination commission, the Queensland government has published its third, and what it says will be the final, venue plan for the Games. Despite bid commitments on sustainability in line with the IOC's "New Norm" reforms for host cities, the plan included the building of a new Olympic stadium and a national aquatics centre in an inner city Brisbane park. "When you talk about the 'New Norm', I think one of the key things is about the Games being part of the city or the host," Jaworski said in answering a question about the changes. "It's not about turning the host into what the Games need, but the other way around. So it is unique." CREATE CERTAINTY Local organising committee chief Andrew Liveris said it had been a relief to finally get a plan in place his team could enact, even if he did not think any ground would be broken on the big new venues until the end of 2026. "I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face (since the announcement)," he said. "I love to plan and implement. It's really hard to plan when the plan keeps moving on you, right? So our job now is to create certainty out of this plan. There's work to do on that. "We're not out of the woods completely, but we are mostly out of the woods, and we have certainty around some pretty big decisions." Liveris said all the venues needed to be completed at least a year before the start of the Games and accepted that issues of labour shortages in Australia's construction industry and local building constraints were a concern. "We are part of a bigger problem, and one that has to be solved by the current (Queensland) government," Liveris said. "They're very dedicated to doing it." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
