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Brisbane Labor has declared its intention to abolish the council's Olympics Committee if it wins the election in March, describing it as a waste of ratepayer money designed to prop up the LNP.
- Brisbane Council's committee is in charge of the council's response to the Brisbane 2032 Games
- Labor says the committee is a waste of money better spent on sports clubs and women's change facility
- The LNP says Labor and the Greens' big spending promises will leave ratepayers with higher bills
Brisbane City Council lord mayoral candidate Tracey Price said the internal committee cost ratepayers $250,000 annually despite having no oversight over the games.
Initially, the lord mayor's office was meant to coordinate the council's involvement in the games. However, now the Economic Development and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee has that responsibility.
But Labor wants the next-elected lord mayor to regain control.
The party has made an election promise to dismantle the "vanity project" and instead spend that money on local sports clubs and women's change facilities.
"The committee that was set up to appease the deputy mayor needs to go. It's a waste of money," Ms Price said.
"The residents of Brisbane deserve a lord mayor who is focussed on outcomes for Brisbane residents from the Olympic and Paralympic Games, not internal games to pay his mates more money."
LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has been a strident critic of the state Labor government's "dysfunctional" handling of the upcoming 2032 Olympics.
He quit an intergovernmental forum in December, describing it as a "pointless talkfest" because the state government made all the "real decisions" behind closed doors.
A LNP Schrinner council spokesperson said Labor and the Greens' big-spending promises would only drive up rates and rents for Brisbane households.
"If Labor is so confident of being in office that they are already deciding civic cabinet roles, then they need to come clean on the power-sharing deal they have done with the extreme and risky Greens," the spokesperson said.
"How will civic cabinet function under a Green-Labor coalition of chaos, and which key cabinet roles will go to the Greens?"
Political games
Both Adrian Schrinner and the Greens have described the state Labor's plans to knock down and rebuild the Gabba Stadium as a $2.7 billion waste of money.
In December, Cr Schrinner said the government was attempting to "shakedown" Brisbane City Council for stadium money.
State Labor has since promised to review the plans for the Gabba rebuild and the $137 million plans for a temporary stadium at the RNA Showgrounds.
On Thursday, Cr Schrinner said state Labor should switch focus from "gold-plated stadiums" towards improving transport ahead of the games.
Brisbane City Council leader of the opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, said Cr Schrinner had a poor track record for managing the city's transport needs.
"This ultimatum he's giving to the state government now is frankly beyond the pale," Cr Cassidy said.
"His track record of managing transport projects — Kingsford Smith Drive, Brisbane Metro and the Green Bridges, to name a few — shows he has no business making demands about what the city needs.
"He's funded a council committee for $250,000 while brutally cutting $400 million in jobs and services for Brisbane residents. It's classic Schrinner Council; we pay more but get less."
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