On Tuesday 21 February, I asked the Premier what date the government would release the full Olympics Host City Contract as defined in the operational requirements document.
You can read my question and the answer below, or find the full transcript and video link in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Amy:
My question is to the Premier and Minister for the Olympics and Paralympics. On what date will the government release the full Olympics Host City Contract as defined in the operational requirements document, including the games delivery plan?
Premier:
I am happy to get back to the member in relation to that specific answer.
The Premier later responded to the question in writing
"... The [Olympic Host City Contract for Brisbane 2032 is publicly available document [sic] and was published on the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) website on 21 July 2021...
"The OHC and related documents can be found on the IOC website at www.olympics.com/ioc, then hover over (1) 'Olympic Games', click (2) 'Brisbane 2032', and scroll to the bottom of the page for 'Documents'..."
To this letter I replied
Dear Premier,
Thank you for your letter of 21 February, in response to my question without notice in Queensland Parliament on the same day. As you are aware, in parliament I asked you:
On what date will the government release the full Olympics Host City Contract as defined in the operational requirements document, including the games delivery plan?
I am grateful for your quick response after taking this question on notice. Unfortunately, your letter only directs me to these two documents, which have been publicly available for some time:
- Olympic Host Contract - Principles, dated 21 July 2021
- Host City Contract - Operational Requirements, dated 13 October 2018
These contracts do not make up the entirety of the Host City Contract for the Brisbane Olympic Games. As per the information from page 12 of the Host City Contract - Operational Requirements onwards, the Host City Contract will consist of the following documents for each Olympic Games:
- The Principles document listed at item 1 above.
- The latest version of the Operational Requirements listed at item 2 above.
- The Games Delivery Plan agreed between the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the relevant Organising Committee. This must contain milestones and timelines for delivery of obligations, and was required to have been agreed by 21 January 2023.
- Candidature Commitments made in relation to the relevant Host City election.
Accordingly, from the information you have provided, the government has only published two out of the four documents which comprise the Host City Contract for the 2032 Olympic Games. While it would be contractually normal for a Host City Contract to consist of a general principles document and a detailed operational document agreed later, here we have an unusual situation where the ‘Operational Requirements’ are simply a generic shelf document, dated 3 years before the signing of the Principles document.
Accordingly, it is clear that the milestones and timelines for delivery of obligations, contained in the Games Delivery Plan, contain crucially important information about the way the Games are being planned. To refuse to publish this plan is not in the public interest. Such refusal would also mean the government is not making the Olympics Host City Contract available.
I reiterate my question from yesterday:
On what date will the government release the full Olympics Host City Contract as defined in the operational requirements document, including the games delivery plan?
I look forward to hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact my office on 07 3724 9100 if you would like to discuss this matter in more detail.
Kind regards,
Amy MacMahon
Member for South Brisbane