Question by Councillor Seal Chong Wah
Question by Councillor Seal Chong Wah, to the Lord Mayor as part of Brisbane City Council Council Meeting, Tues 26th August 2025
Lord Mayor, as we know the Brisbane City Council along with the Qld State government are signatories to the Olympic Host City agreement with the IOC - International Olympic Committee.
Clause 15.3 of the Host City Contract states "Where new permanent venues need to be constructed, the Hosts, the Host NOC and the OCOG shall ensure that they are not located in or adjacent to statutory nature, cultural protected area or World Heritage Sites."
Lord Mayor, as a large part of Victoria Park/Barrambin is a culturally protected area and considering the Queensland State government has recommended that all of Barrambin receives state cultural heritage protection, 545 residents have now written to the IOC, expressing their dismay at the Brisbane City Council and State government’s stated intention to violate this Host agreement.
Lord Mayor, copies of these 545 emails have in fact been sent to your office.
My question is - when the Qld Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tim Mander was asked about breaking this host agreement, he responded that the “IOC are over the moon about what we are doing”.
Lord Mayor, do you also think the IOC are ‘over the moon’ at your intended violation of the Host City Agreement and complete disregard for cultural heritage?