Six years out: the race to build Brisbane 2032
Work has started on a 63,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park, but the rest of the venue program is only beginning.
Five years after Brisbane won the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the centrepiece is under way. Early works on a 63,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park began on 1 June 2026. It will host the opening and closing ceremonies, after Premier David Crisafulli reversed his election promise of no new stadiums.
The wider program is large: seven new venues and ten upgrades across Brisbane and regional Queensland, from Toowoomba to Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton, on a budget of $7.1 billion. As of July, Victoria Park was the only new venue at the early-works stage.
Labour is the constraint. The construction workforce is projected to fall 19,100 people short over eight years, with most venue work due to finish in 2030–31. Australian Constructors Association chief Peter Colacino put it simply: there is not a second to lose.
Olympics Minister Tim Mander has acknowledged that the true cost will become clearer as projects advance.
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