Australia’s bid for a summer Olympic games in 2032 has taken on a new urgency on the sidelines of the country’s deteriorating relationship with China and the prospect of a rival bid from Chengdu-Chongqing.
Key points:
- There are a number of official bids for the 2032 games, including Brisbane, Indonesia, Germany and Qatar
- The Chinese Government has signalled Chengdu-Chongqing may join in the bidding process
- The IOC’s newly-announced human rights strategy is putting the spotlight on how the issue is handled by all prospective bidding countries
Brisbane 2032 is the most advanced of several bids but with conversations stalled because of COVID-19, rival bids continue to mount from Indonesia, Qatar, Germany, and possibly India, South Korea and Turkey.
China announced a week ago that it may throw its hat into the ring, in direct competition to Australia’s bid to host the games.
Beijing staged a successful summer games in 2008 and will host the next Winter Olympics in 2022, although China is under increasing pressure from human rights groups and others, some of whom are pushing for a boycott.
Last week’s announcement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it is forging ahead with a human rights strategy and the creation of a human rights unit within the organisation ramps up the focus on China’s human rights record, although all bid cities would come under the same spotlight.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met with Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) boss John Coates on Monday.
“We’ve had once again a really positive discussion about the possibility of a future Olympics here in Queensland for 2032,” the Premier said.
“Today was very significant in that we were able to discuss getting our Olympic taskforce, our working group, back together in the New Year to look at the next stages that we have to go through.”
Three weeks ago, Coates accompanied IOC president Thomas Bach on a visit to Tokyo to check on the latest developments for next year’s postponed 2020 Olympics.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was also in Tokyo at the time and invited Bach and Coates to meet, reinforcing the Federal Government’s support for Queensland’s bid.
“The IOC are in what is called ‘continuous dialogue’ [with Brisbane] but so are four or five other cities,” Coates said.
“The IOC is meeting each night this week and usually at our executive board meetings, the question of future bids is on the agenda.”
Coates said it was important for the IOC to hear Ms Palaszscuk’s message today, including “her desire to move to further discussions with a view to what they call ‘targeted dialogue”.
“I think with COVID under control in this country, largely, it is time for everyone to reaffirm their commitment to these games and I think that’s going to be very well received,” Coates said.
A shift to targeted dialogue would mean Brisbane would gain status as one of one or more “preferred hosts”.
Organisation gives Brisbane the edge so far, says expert
Robert Livingstone, a business journalist for GamesBids.com who focusses on host city selections, said Brisbane 2032 has the edge over other cities but China’s bid cannot be discounted.
“Clearly, Brisbane and Queensland is far more advanced in their organisation than any of the other bids,” he said.
“It’s put them in the driver’s seat amongst their rivals.
“Chinese bids can never be discounted … the IOC definitely will be looking at it and taking it seriously, they have a strong relationship with China.
“They have the Beijing 2022 winter games coming up, so they have that relationship ongoing … the longer this race goes on, the more chance China has.”
This was a point not lost on the AOC president, Coates, who is driving the Brisbane 2032 bid.
Coates is recognised as one of the most politically astute members of the IOC and as a vice-president, understands the internal workings of the organisation better than most.
Human rights issues key to deciding games
Pressure will now be ramped up to have the IOC make an early decision on which city will be awarded hosting rights, at a time when human rights are also on the agenda.
The IOC has consistently argued it is ‘politically neutral’, distancing itself from previous human rights controversies — but having confirmed its commitment to creating a human rights strategy, the ground has shifted.
Bach is thought to be behind the IOC’s push to reimagine its role, previously stating “we need to change because sport today is too important in society to ignore the rest of society”.
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein has been advising the IOC since 2018 in his role as the self-described ‘supreme authority’ of the Olympic movement.
“There is this question over whether you can separate what is part of the human experience from another part of the human experience and are these almost artificial delineations?” he told The Ticket.
“As the media became more committed to following so many of the individual [human rights] stories you began to see the pressure building.
“There is a strong non-discrimination requirement already in the IOC charter, but discrimination isn’t just [relevant] at the time of the games.”
China made headlines last week with a controversial tweet by a foreign ministry spokesman highlighting the allegations of war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Prince Zeid said when it comes to human rights, no country has a clean slate.
“What’s very dangerous is to present yourself as a country — and I’m not saying this of Australia specifically, but any country — that you are human rights sensitive when it comes to women’s rights issues, or child rights issues, or the rights of persons with disabilities, but not when it comes to the rights of migrants or the rights of indigenous peoples,” he said.
“You can’t [issue] shop like that. You’re either committed or you are not committed. You can’t just sort of cherrypick this.
“If you are going to be a human rights dedicated community it requires moral consistency, and playing fast and loose with some of it is rather regrettable.”
