The Gold Coast is poised to poach more Olympic events if cost blowouts plaguing the Sunshine Coast's stadiums force a venue rethink.
The Sunshine Coast was promised a major upgrade to its outdoor stadium and a new indoor sports centre to host soccer and basketball during the 2032 Olympic Games.
The venues would also address a chronic shortage of community sporting facilities in a region with an exploding population.
However, the new Queensland government recently revealed costs for the two stadiums had jumped from $290 million to $410 million.
The venues went to tender last year but contracts were not signed before the state election, meaning the stadiums are caught in the LNP government's 100-day review and could be scrapped or scaled back.
Grand plans
The outdoor stadium upgrade would increase capacity from 1,046 seats to 10,000 permanent seats plus another 10,000 temporary seats during the Olympics.
The new indoor centre would deliver 11 courts, seat 6,000 spectators, and be used to host major futsal and basketball championships from 2027.
The Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre would displace the Kawana Dolphins Rugby League Club. (Supplied: Queensland government)
City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said his region was keen to host more events if the Sunshine Coast could not, but warned time was ticking.
"We've already got facilities here … we're more than happy to accommodate [more events]," he said.
"A decision has got to be made very soon … once that decision is made, you stick to it."
Location controversial
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has long expressed concern about the indoor stadium's location because it would displace the Kawana Dolphins Rugby League Club.
"I still hold those concerns," Mr Bleijie said last Friday.
"The original proposal was for the Sunshine Coast indoor centre to be in Maroochydore, which I supported at the time."
The indoor stadium is in Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie's electorate. (ABC News)
Mr Bleijie has also suggested the venues might have to be scaled back to offset the cost blowouts.
"Council has already started looking at … the scale of these projects to deliver them within budget because we committed the $7.1 billion [Olympics] budget … and it's not changing," he said.
But on Sunday Mr Bleijie said some costs could be reduced by scrapping a controversial union deal on pay and conditions.
Funding question mark
The federal government is paying half the amount for the so-called minor venues such as the Sunshine Coast stadiums.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King would not say who would pay for any budget overruns.
"The Commonwealth is extremely concerned that further delays to venues with accepted Project Valuation Reports and procurement already underway will only result in further cost pressures," Ms King said.
"We have asked the incoming Queensland government to be aware of this."
The proposal to build the indoor stadium in Maroochydore was spruiked in 2021 by federal MP Ted O'Brien who lobbied to merge it with an arts and entertainment precinct in the new CBD.
Former mayor Mark Jamieson said that idea was unsuitable.
"An indoor sporting facility needs to belong in a sports precinct; it needs to be very close to major transport corridors," he said.
"Trying to put what is a very large shed into the centre of the Maroochydore CBD I don't think would be compatible with the planning that's in place."
Mr Jamieson, who lobbied for the Olympics to come to south-east Queensland, said it would be "dreadful" if the Sunshine Coast lost stadium investment following the government's 100-day review.
Mr Jamieson is frustrated with the delays after lobbying to host the 2032 Olympic Games. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques)
"You can't keep going back and making new decisions on top of old decisions … you've just got to get on with it," he said.
Stadiums urgently needed
Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the indoor centre was "not about the Olympic Games".
"[We] are already 18 courts short of where we should be for our population, so these 11 courts aren't even going to fill the absolute need that we have already," she said.
Rosanna Natoli says the region does not have enough indoor courts. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Amy Sheehan)
"It is incredibly disappointing that the tender for the stadium was not let before the government went into caretaker mode."
The delays came despite former Minister for State Development Grace Grace promising earlier this year that construction on the stadiums was imminent.
"We're firing the starter's gun for procurement," Ms Grace said at Sunshine Coast Stadium on May 17.
"The first two contracts go to market on Monday … the Sunshine Coast stadium upgrade … and the indoor sports centre [next door]."
But the projects were never signed off.
The government's 100-day review begins later this month.