The Gabba

[Sir Rols]

29 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

It does feel like Florida though.

Yeah, I always tell my American friends it’s like Florida… complete with elderly retirees

[Australian Kiwi]

14 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Yeah, I always tell my American friends it’s like Florida… complete with elderly retirees

And wildly unpredictable voting patterns. 

 

[Australian Kiwi]

8 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

That travelogue does sound like it was written by a real estate agent… and could be said about any mid range city from Topeka to Lublin. Brissie deserves better than that.

Amazed it suddenly got three upvotes within five minutes of it being posted 

Yes - I noticed one of my posts suddenly got four 'confused' reacts within about 3 hours of each other after being up for several days.........

[FYI]

1 hour ago, Australian Kiwi said:

You wouldn't want it in the peak of our summer. Having an Australian SOG in January / Feb would give Atlanta 1996 a run for its money in terms of overheating. 

And with our summers starting to get overbearing, maybe the Hemispheres should swap "timeframes" for the Summer Games then! 

1 hour ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I think Brisbane has a lot more character than either of those cities though.

I think its more comparable in scale to Austin, TX or San Diego. It does feel like Florida though. 

I've heard that before. That "Brisbane is the Miami of Australia". I guess that makes since Brisbane is right on the coast with it's skyscrapers, just like Miami is. But from an international perspective, don't see Brisbane ranking up there along with Miami. Don't see the Olympics changing that perspective much either, like it didn't for Atlanta stature.

[Sir Rols]

5 minutes ago, FYI said:

I've heard that before. That "Brisbane is the Miami of Australia". I guess that makes since Brisbane is right on the coast with it's skyscrapers, just like Miami is. But from an international perspective, don't see Brisbane ranking up there along with Miami. Don't see the Olympics changing that perspective much either, like it didn't for Atlanta stature.

Probably more like Orlando. Miami has that whole pastel, art deco, Latin vibe, while Brisbane has… suburbia

[FYI]

38 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Yeah, I always tell my American friends it’s like Florida… complete with elderly retirees

Maybe mainly in (& around) Brisbane, though? But what about outside SE Queensland? Seems like there it's more like Texas than anything else.

25 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

And wildly unpredictable voting patterns. 

Hopefully Florida starts swinging back the other way after it's last election. Cause a certain political figure there fighting with a mouse instead of fixing the real problems citizens there are dealing with, like the insane home insurance crisis for example, are starting to make some people there second guess their last votes they cast. 

28 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

Yes - I noticed one of my posts suddenly got four 'confused' reacts within about 3 hours of each other after being up for several days.........

I sometimes get hahas, only to be switched with confused ones hours later, or sometimes the following day. Someone really has a lick, I mean like problem. 

[Australian Kiwi]

Its worth reminding ourselves too that its significantly smaller than the next largest Australian city (Melbourne) in population and closer in size to Perth and Adelaide - difference is that Brisbane has large-ish population centres north and south of it to draw on (Gold Coast, for instance). 

As at June 2022...

1. Greater Sydney - 5.3 million

2. Greater Melbourne - 5 million

3. Greater Brisbane - 2.6 million

4. Greater Perth - 2.2 million

5. Greater Adelaide - 1.4 million

[FYI]

4 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Probably more like Orlando. Miami has that whole pastel, art deco, Latin vibe, while Brisbane has… suburbia

That's what I compared it too initially (along with Vegas). But then AK said that Brisbane has 'a lot more character' than those cities. So if Brisbane is - Suburbia, then that sounds about right. And actually, Atlanta is probably more on point, since it also can be described as such, & is actually an Olympic city, even though if mainly a forgotten one at this point.

[Australian Kiwi]

Sorry posted that before making my point...
The above compare to the urban areas of US cities such as...

Melbourne and Sydney - similar in size to the full urban metros of Philadelphia, Washington DC or Atlanta (which is ironically almost the same population as metro Melb).

Brisbane - almost exactly the same as Denver-Aurora or Tampa-St. Petersburg.

[FYI]

2 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

Its worth reminding ourselves too that its significantly smaller than the next largest Australian city (Melbourne) in population and closer in size to Perth and Adelaide - difference is that Brisbane has large-ish population centres north and south of it to draw on (Gold Coast, for instance). 

3. Greater Brisbane - 2.6 million 

That's why it still boggles the mind, especially from an international perspective, that Brisbane is even hosting 2032. A city that small hasn't hosted the Summer Olympics since Atlanta 1996. And they've only gotten bigger since then.

[Australian Kiwi]

4 minutes ago, FYI said:

That's what I compared it too initially (along with Vegas). But then AK said that Brisbane has 'a lot more character' than those cities. So if Brisbane is - Suburbia, then that sounds about right. And actually, Atlanta is probably more on point, since it also can be described as such, & is actually an Olympic city, even though if mainly a forgotten one at this point.

I like Atlanta though. I visited (briefly) a few years back and I thought it had a nice feel to it (although only really saw the Midtown area). 

[FYI]

3 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

Melbourne and Sydney - similar in size to the full urban metros of Philadelphia, Washington DC or Atlanta (which is ironically almost the same population as metro Melb).

That's as of 2023 numbers. But back in the 90's, Atlanta's metro pop. was around the 3.3 million mark. It's practically doubled in size since then. 

[Sir Rols]

5 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I like Atlanta though. I visited (briefly) a few years back and I thought it had a nice feel to it (although only really saw the Midtown area). 

I was there for the games. Nice enough city and there was a games vibe, at least downtown. Not really much outside though, and decades later, I still don’t have any great distinct mental images of it as a city. I was more impressed with how green and lush the surrounding countryside was.

[FYI]

5 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I like Atlanta though. I visited (briefly) a few years back and I thought it had a nice feel to it (although only really saw the Midtown area). 

Yeah, Midtown & Buckhead are nice. It's mainly where you'll find a lot of the nightlife there, trendy shops, restaurant, etc. But start to go outside of the I-285 loop, & all you'll pretty much find is suburbia. Then head out even more, & you're in the "cuntry".  

[Australian Kiwi]

10 minutes ago, FYI said:

That's why it still boggles the mind, especially from an international perspective, that Brisbane is even hosting 2032. A city that small hasn't hosted the Summer Olympics since Atlanta 1996. And they've only gotten bigger since then.

I get that - especially after the likes of Tokyo, Paris, LA, Beijing, London, its small... but Sydney was only around 3.5 million in 1993, Melbourne itself barely 3 million in 1990 when it got rejected for '96. 

I truly do think Brisbane will do a great job in 2032. Queenslanders are too proud to let it be anything less. I think its up to the rest of us ( and the media) to back off from comparisons to 2000. 

[Australian Kiwi]

4 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

I was there for the games. Nice enough city and there was a games vibe, at least downtown. Not really much outside though, and decades later, I still don’t have any great distinct mental images of it as a city. I was more impressed with how green and lush the surrounding countryside was.

The trees in Atlanta are incredible, and some of the homes around downtown / midtown are truly spectacular. Even though its quite suburban it seems to have a bit more character than some other similar sized cities like Dallas or Houston.

[FYI]

^More character to do with it's Southern charm heritage. Savannah, where Olympic sailing for 1996 was held, is truly a southern gem. With all it's beautiful Victorian homes & riverfront. 

[FYI]

32 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

Brisbane - almost exactly the same as Denver-Aurora or Tampa-St. Petersburg.

And Tampa (along with Orlando) got rejected by the USOC for the 2012 domestic nod race, which eventually went to NYC.

[Australian Kiwi]

29 minutes ago, FYI said:

And Tampa (along with Orlando) got rejected by the USOC for the 2012 domestic nod race, which eventually went to NYC.

What a shame they didn't have a John Coates in the USOC to make the stars align.

[TorchbearerSydney]

I am from Adelaide - not  Sydney (though I carried the Sydney torch- into Byron Bay no less, just South of GC)

I visit Brisbane / Gold Coast regularly as my sister lives just South of there. Was in Brisbane months ago.

You keep comparing Brisbane to Sydney / Melbourne- the Olympics are a global event, so Brisbane needs to compare itself to the great cities of the World. Like Paris/LA/Tokyo/ Barcelona....

I mentioned Fortitude Valley because I was desperately trying to think of somewhere 'international' or 'exotic' in Brisbane, and the Valley contains Chinatown. Your point about the strict boundaries of the CBD is bizarre- all of Brisbane is hosting the Games, and the Valley is in the City of Brisbane boundaries.

Brisbane will pull off a successful Olympics from a sporting point of view. Looking a the bigger picture I doubt it will be memorable. But with Queenslanders like  Hanson, Katter, Palmer ad Dutton welcoming the World, what could go wrong?

[AustralianFan]

6 hours ago, TorchbearerSydney said:

I am from Adelaide - not  Sydney (though I carried the Sydney torch- into Byron Bay no less, just South of GC)

I visit Brisbane / Gold Coast regularly as my sister lives just South of there. Was in Brisbane months ago.

You keep comparing Brisbane to Sydney / Melbourne- the Olympics are a global event, so Brisbane needs to compare itself to the great cities of the World. Like Paris/LA/Tokyo/ Barcelona....

I mentioned Fortitude Valley because I was desperately trying to think of somewhere 'international' or 'exotic' in Brisbane, and the Valley contains Chinatown. Your point about the strict boundaries of the CBD is bizarre- all of Brisbane is hosting the Games, and the Valley is in the City of Brisbane boundaries.

Brisbane will pull off a successful Olympics from a sporting point of view. Looking a the bigger picture I doubt it will be memorable. But with Queenslanders like  Hanson, Katter, Palmer ad Dutton welcoming the World, what could go wrong?

Brisbane can stand on it’s own two feet, it most certainly doesn’t need to compare itself to any other city in the world. No, not all.

The size of an Olympic city has  got nothing to do with the success of a Games.  Olympic success as a host is not on a sliding scale according to the size  of a city or it’s CBD 

The actual nitty gritty planning and organizing of the Games is what makes it a success.

I’m not  at all comparing Brisbane to Sydney or Melbourne, as cities because each is unique.
What I am saying that Brisbane is third Australian city which will host an Olympics.

Aussie editions 1 and 2 were raging successes at Melbourne 1956 and Sydney in 2000.

There is nothing stopping Edition 3 Brisbane also being a raging in Brisbane 2032.  

I say it again, the success of an Olympic Games is not at all dependent on the size of the Host City.

It’s in the actual detailed planning, organisation and well resourced delivery that counts.

 

—> … and don’t worry about those lunatic loud mouth politicians you mentioned, Katter, Hanson, Dutton, Mark Latham, etc who have no chance of welcoming anybody at the 2032 Games.   They are literally unelectable and will always be irrelevant loudmouths destined to stay on the political sidelines, with not a hope of ever getting into government.  I wish the same fate for dumb Trump 2.0, please God.

[Sir Rols]

Thing is, complacency and jingoistic self belief are the greatest enemies to ensuring Brisbane lives up to its potential.

Yes, it should be a success. We’ve got the base ingredients and experience to achieve it. But it’s delusional to already be basking in premature self back-slapping or think Australia has some innate natural talent for doing it all perfectly without breaking a sweat. Lots of things could still spoil the party. Some out of our control or we can only contingency plan for - terrorism or war, a health pandemic, major financial crisis or depression,  extreme weather events. And a lot we can control or influence - bad planning, over-spending on unnecessary accoutrements, misplaced priorities, delays in constructions or preparations, inflationary impacts on costs, hiring of inefficient or incompetent personnel or contractors, falling public support fuelled by modern media channels.

As much as it might annoy or dismay one to see kvetching and criticism, it’s actually necessary if the games are to fulfill the potential we can bring to it. Poking fingers in the plans, criticising and looking for weaknesses are more vital to success than constant and unrelenting Pollyannarisms, pretty pictures and “she’ll be right mate”. You can tell yourself “Australians have a natural gift for this, we can do it in our sleep”, but you just have to look at the example of Victoria 2026 to see that we’re not immune to f*cking things up if we don’t have critical and transparent oversight.

As to political factors - the sometimes great, and sometimes not so great, thing about minor parties, independents and mavericks is that they can and do influence mainstream parties and policies. I myself vote Greens precisely because I hope they keep Labor honest and force them to be more progressive, rather than in the hope they’d ever hold power in their own right (the gods help us if they ever did!). Minor political players wield far more clout, through balance of power or appeal to the major parties’ “bases”, than their sheer numbers would indicate. Especially in this era of divisive popularism and megaphone social media. You only have to look at our upcoming referendum - what should be a commonsense and uncontroversial enshrining of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is quite possibly facing an embarrassing and tragic defeat because of the forces of division and extremism. Mainstream political parties and the “sensible centre” can’t be taken for granted any more, and Australia’s not immune. And neither are the Olympics.      

[Australian Kiwi]

2 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

 

As much as it might annoy or dismay one to see kvetching and criticism, it’s actually necessary if the games are to fulfill the potential we can bring to it. Poking fingers in the plans, criticising and looking for weaknesses are more vital to success than constant and unrelenting Pollyannarisms, pretty pictures and “she’ll be right mate”. You can tell yourself “Australians have a natural gift for this, we can do it in our sleep”, but you just have to look at the example of Victoria 2026 to see that we’re not immune to f*cking things up if we don’t have critical and transparent oversight.

 

Great post Rols . Really hit the nail on the head in terms of the kind of "Titanic is Unsinkable, I assure you!" mentality that you see on here and elsewhere. Brisbane has the ingredients to pull it off well but there are A LOT of variables that could spell trouble. 

Its also worth noting that Victoria 2026 and Brisbane 2032 are two examples of major events awarded to hosts without the rigour of a bid process. 2026 tanked because there was no due diligence and it had no time and money to resolve them. 

My concern with Brisbane is that it didn't go through the stress and interrogation of the standard bid process, and a lot of the "Bread not Circuses" type chatter is happening after the Games were awarded. 

[Australian Kiwi]

2 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

 

As to political factors - the sometimes great, and sometimes not so great, thing about minor parties, independents and mavericks is that they can and do influence mainstream parties and policies. I myself vote Greens precisely because I hope they keep Labor honest and force them to be more progressive, rather than in the hope they’d ever hold power in their own right (the gods help us if they ever did!). Minor political players wield far more clout, through balance of power or appeal to the major parties’ “bases”, than their sheer numbers would indicate. Especially in this era of divisive popularism and megaphone social media. You only have to look at our upcoming referendum - what should be a commonsense and uncontroversial enshrining of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is quite possibly facing an embarrassing and tragic defeat because of the forces of division and extremism. Mainstream political parties and the “sensible centre” can’t be taken for granted any more, and Australia’s not immune. And neither are the Olympics.      

I think this is at important point too. 10 years is a LONG time, especially in Australian and in particular Queensland politics. Its highly volatile, and I could see something like Olympic funding becoming a HUGE concern for non-SEQ communities in coming years as the impact of inflation settles in and there are budgetary gaps. 

All it will take is for a hung parliament and a few loose cannon independents / minor parties to cause a real threat to the funding streams of the Games. I don't think we will see a Denver 1976 - but its naive to say (as some have said) that its "all aboard" and the worth of the 2032 Olympics will never be questioned. 

[Sir Rols]

4 minutes ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I think this is at important point too. 10 years is a LONG time, especially in Australian and in particular Queensland politics. Its highly volatile, and I could see something like Olympic funding becoming a HUGE concern for non-SEQ communities in coming years as the impact of inflation settles in and there are budgetary gaps. 

All it will take is for a hung parliament and a few loose cannon independents / minor parties to cause a real threat to the funding streams of the Games. I don't think we will see a Denver 1976 - but it’s naive to say (as some have said) that its "all aboard" and the worth of the 2032 Olympics will never be questioned. 

Exactly. And looking at Queensland specifically, we’re already seeing Labour’s poll numbers weakening, mutters in the media over the past week of leadership challenges to Palasczuk, and the fact they’ll be facing the challenge of the “it’s time” factor all long-term governments have to face at the next State election. Add to that the already announced unlikely alliance of the Greens, One Nation and Katter determined to prune games spending, and the chances of a whole new ball game next year seem actually quite high.