{"id":469663,"date":"2026-02-10T02:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/469663\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T02:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:34:12","slug":"queensland-government-dismisses-concerns-about-fitzroy-river-as-2032-brisbane-olympics-venue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/469663\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland government dismisses concerns about Fitzroy River as 2032 Brisbane Olympics venue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Queensland government has emphatically declared a crocodile-inhabited river prone to flooding will host Olympic rowing and canoeing events in 2032.<\/p>\n

It comes amid reports the two Brisbane 2032 Olympic sports will be moved away from central Queensland’s Fitzroy River in Rockhampton to the state’s south-east.<\/p>\n

“Rowing will be in Rockhampton, as per the 2032 Delivery Plan,” Olympics Minister Tim Mander told the ABC on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"Jess<\/p>\n

The 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games rowing and canoeing events will be held in Rockhampton. (AAP via Photosport: Iain McGregor)<\/p>\n

The river was a controversial choice of venue when it was announced last year, with Premier David Crisafulli declaring Brisbane 2032 would be “a Queensland Games for all of Queensland”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, World Rowing and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) are yet to sign off on the venue due to the waterway not meeting the technical specifications for international competition.<\/p>\n

As Queensland Parliament resumes, Mr Mander and member for Rockhampton Donna Kirkland said they would provide an update during sittings on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Fitzroy River rowing course has been the subject of independent and international testing. (Supplied: Rockhampton Fitzroy Rowing Club)<\/p>\n

Ms Kirkland said speculation that Olympic officials were looking to shift rowing and canoeing events away from the city was “nonsense”.<\/p>\n

“Rockhampton will proudly host Olympic and Paralympic rowing on the Fitzroy River as outlined in the 2032 Delivery Plan,” Ms Kirkland said.<\/p>\n

“We are getting on with the job of delivering a remarkable event that showcases our region to the world and leaves a lasting legacy for growth.”\"A<\/p>\n

David Crisafulli has reassured the public that Rockhampton will host Olympic rowing. (Supplied: Rockhampton Grammar School)<\/p>\n

Games for the regions<\/p>\n

In October the Rockhampton venue passed initial testing<\/a> by the state’s Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GICCA).<\/p>\n

But in a signed joint statement supplied to the ABC, World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland and ICF president Thomas Konietzko said the groups were not ready to give the go-ahead for the Fitzroy and were committed to ensuring “fair and safe competition”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Premier David Crisafulli has previously said funding would be pumped into regional areas to help support legacy venues for the 2032 Olympics.<\/p>\n

“It had been recommended to move the [rowing] event to Sydney, but I believe there is a legacy play and we must grab that,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Men's<\/p>\n

Members of Australian men’s rowing four team train during a training session at the Tokyo Olympics. (AP: Lee Jin-man)<\/p>\n

The site has been used as a staging camp for major events for the Australian rowing team, including before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In February, World Rowing and ICF officials toured Rockhampton with members of the 2032 Organising Committee while the river was in flood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said rowing officials walked away impressed with the region’s potential.<\/p>\n

He reiterated the state government would not change its position on hosting events in Rockhampton and other regional venues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queensland government has emphatically declared a crocodile-inhabited river prone to flooding will host Olympic rowing and canoeing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,51705,17331,239903,239902,61880,71583,85,17333],"class_list":["post-469663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane-2032-olympics","tag-fitzroy-river","tag-games-independent-infrastructure-and-co-ordination-authority","tag-international-canoe-federation","tag-olympic-and-paralympic-games","tag-queensland-parliament","tag-sports","tag-world-rowing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}