Voters are increasingly happy with Queensland’s preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games across the past 10 months, with most now rating the performance of the Crisafulli LNP government as good.
The most negativity is in the growing portion of voters who say they do not vote for a major party. But overall, most Queenslanders are positive about the landmark global event the state will host in little more than six years.
Polling for this masthead also found the government’s broken promise to build a $3.8 billion stadium for the Games in Victoria Park is opposed by 28 per cent of voters.
The Resolve Political Monitor surveyed 434 voters between June 8 and 13, after First Nations protesters were evicted from the venue’s inner-Brisbane site and preliminary work began.
The poll found 53 per cent of voters rate the government’s Games preparation as either very or fairly good, with 33 per cent saying it was very or fairly poor, and 14 per cent neutral or undecided.
This is compared with just 39 per cent holding a positive view in another poll conducted for this masthead in August last year, with 29 per cent negative and 32 per cent undecided.
But among voters surveyed this month, there is a clear political divide in the strength of the positive perceptions.
LNP voters overwhelmingly view the government’s performance favourably, and just over half of Labor voters feel the same.
Among “other voters”, or those who indicated they would not vote for either major party, the view is almost an equal good-poor split with two-in-five voters on either side.
This comes as the proportion of those who would park their first preference votes beyond the LNP and Labor hit a record Resolve Political Monitor high of 46 per cent.
Overall, a total of 62 per cent say they feel very or fairly positive about the event, with 26 per cent feeling very or fairly negative about it, and 12 per cent neutral or undecided.
When asked if Victoria Park is the right choice for the Games’ stadium, 55 per cent of voters say probably or definitely yes, while only 28 per cent say probably or definitely not. A total of 18 per cent have a neutral view or are undecided.
The Crisafulli government came to power after the October 2024 election promising a review of Games venue planning after almost four years of indecision, but did not follow all recommendations.
A 50-50 funding envelope agreed with the federal government will see $7.1 billion go towards work on 17 new and upgraded venues before the event.
This week’s council budget brought uncertainty over how much of the Brisbane Metro would be completed before the Games.
Another significant transport legacy plan, taken to the election as a new heavy rail passenger rail line to Maroochydore, has since been cut short, with Metro-style buses continuing to the Sunshine Coast airport.
Matt Dennien is a reporter at Brisbane Times covering state politics, parliament and the public sector. He has previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
