On Wednesday 14 February 2024, on behalf of my colleague Amy MacMahon who was recovering in hospital, I asked the Premier whether he will commit to scrap the Gabba rebuild.
You can read my question and the Premier's response below, or in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Mr BERKMAN: My question is to the Premier. John Coates, Brisbane’s Lord Mayor and even Peter Beattie have now joined the Greens campaign against the Gabba demolition. Will the Premier finally listen to Queenslanders and call off the Gabba demolition now?
Mr MILES: I thank the member for Maiwar for his question. I understand why the Greens political party wants to make this a political issue for its own electoral advantage, but we certainly will not be. We are focused on delivering the best outcome, and that is why we commissioned Graham Quirk to look at the games master plan and identify for us the best value options, and we will take on board the outcomes of that review. It is a sincere process and I certainly hope that it results in a better plan. I certainly hope that it can deliver for us better value for money and a better outcome for the venues. I certainly hope that it helps us to deliver a better outcome, and that is why we have undertaken this process, as I say, in good faith.
Mr Quirk has a wide remit to look at whatever he thinks should be looked at and make whatever recommendations to us he thinks he should make, so I would not, if I was the member for Maiwar, rush to chalk this up as a victory for the Greens political party. This is an attempt to get the most commonsense outcome. We know the position of the Greens political party on the Olympics. That is well established, and we acknowledge that. It is well known. We support the games. We think the games will be good for our state. We know that Queensland will deliver the best Olympics ever, and they will be even better thanks to the contribution that Graham Quirk is making in working with us on this review.