Five months out from the Brisbane 2032 sports program being decided, Australian Sports Minister and Games organising committee member Anika Wells has made a dramatic intervention and formally backed netball’s inclusion in the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in her home city.
And the Queensland-based minister backed calls to move some sports out of the state, if it helped the Games’ bottom line.
Addressing the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane on Thursday, Wells publicly endorsed netball’s inclusion.
“Back when I pulled on a Bluebirds netball bib at the MacGregor Netball Association here in Brisbane, the prospect of playing netball at the Olympic Games simply wasn’t possible,” she said.
“Today, it could be. Today I am publicly committing my support to netball as part of Brisbane 2032.”
Wells said netball was “quintessentially Australian” and the leading team sport for women and girls across the region. Without a parallel men’s competition, netball’s inclusion could inadvertently skewer the IOC’s push for gender equality.
The IOC’s Olympic Agenda, launched in 2020, caps athletes at 10,500 including an overall 50 per cent female participation rate.
Under Olympic hosting rules, Brisbane 2032 organisers can nominate additional sports for inclusion, over and above the core disciplines such as swimming and athletics.
Adding a team sport, in a Games in which cricket is also expected to feature, would put more pressure on that cap.
Wells said she could “see a world where that’s possible” to have two additional team sports included, despite that cap.
“[IOC president] Kirsty Coventry is leading a necessary and righteous fit-for-the-future program, where she’s reviewing the entire Olympic sports program,” she said.
“She’s come in as the new president. That’s a good thing for her to do. For us, that means that we need to wait until April to have finality and certainty around what our sports program looks like.
“But we do know that Australia will be able to present a handful of sports to go in Brisbane 2032, so that’s why – and I’ve believed this for a long time – I chose the Queensland Media Club today to nail my colours to the mast and say that I believe netball should be one of them.”
Asked whether Wells’ position reflected that of the Games organising committee, a Brisbane 2032 spokesman said “productive conversations” about the sports program, including the host city-nominated additional sports, were ongoing with the IOC.
“In parallel, we are working with the International Paralympic Committee on the determination of the Paralympic sports program,” he said.
“Confirmation from the International Olympic Committee of incumbent and candidate disciplines being confirmed in December this year and Brisbane 2032’s Olympic sports program in April next year provides the certainty needed as Brisbane 2032 and Games delivery partners continue Games and legacy outcomes at pace.
“We’re appreciative of the clarity and look forward to our sports program and venue master plan being confirmed next year, ahead of becoming the next Summer Games host post the LA28 Games.”
The candidates for disciplines to be included in 2032 will be decided at the 147th IOC congress in Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, in April.
Wells also backed some events being moved interstate, so “people from Broome or Devonport or Alice Springs” could also a buy-in to the Games.
“I am Queensland-born, Queensland-bred. When I die, I will be Queensland-dead,” Wells said.
“There is no stronger advocate for Brisbane than I, but I understand that in Sydney 2000 there were different events that happened in other states.
“I don’t think it’s a controversial thing to say that that might be necessary.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously suggested rowing could be hosted in Penrith and tennis in Melbourne as cost-cutting measures.
But Wells said Brisbane 2032 was ultimately up to the Queensland government to deliver and the Commonwealth would not bear any cost overruns as a result.
“We don’t just have a gentlemen’s agreement – we have an intergovernmental agreement that both sides of government signed where the federal contribution is capped at $3.43 billion.
“It’s the Queensland government that underwrites these Games, so ultimately I try to work in and add value from a federal perspective because if they make decisions around venue capacity, around savings, it is them ultimately that has to underwrite the operational costs of the Games.
“I’m here to support, but ultimately those are the formal agreements that we each entered into, and that we each will continue to discharge.”
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