Champions of sport and business converged upon the Ipswich 2032 Legacy Summit last month, in pursuit of economic ‘gold’ both before and after the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
On October 14, various dignitaries attended the long-planned conference in central Ipswich – including Olympian Natalie Cook, Paralympian Taymon Kenton-Smith, Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding, former Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, and Division 2 Councillor Nicole Jonic, who also serves as the Council’s Economic and Industry Development Committee Chairperson.
Cr Jonic said now is the time to define the legacy for future generations of Ipswich and Greater Springfield.
“The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games bring with it a unique opportunity for Ipswich – the fastest growing city in Queensland – to develop the economic, infrastructure, and tourism benefits,” she said.
“The preparation and delivery of the Games will require the input of workers with various skills and expertise, and we want those jobs to benefit Ipswich residents and the summit has given us a head start.”
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding thanked the athletes past and present who weighed in, as well as some of the expert architects of the original 2032 bid including CEO of The Committee for Brisbane, Barton Green, Caio Grynberg from EKS Events, and the former Lord Mayor.
“The 2032 Games is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our city – not only will we become an official Olympic host city, but we have a golden chance to think about how we can use the Games to leverage a generational change in our city.”
“Olympians, Paralympians, business leaders, government, community and cultural organisations came together to share ideas and start to form a road map of how we can pull together to achieve our common goals and create a vision of what Ipswich can become,” Mayor Harding said.
“But we also heard from local junior athletes – middle distance runner Conor Mathewson, BMX rider Holyee-Ann Jackson, and sprinter Mia Kertesz – who recently set an Australian record for the 100 and 200m sprint events – and what the Olympics coming to Ipswich means for them.
“One of the outcomes from the summit is to form a Legacy Working Group to help shape the Games’ roadmap and come up with an adaptable master plan as we move forward.
“Today is just the first step – Council will now take on board today’s discussions, and prepare a report that will guide future discussions with our community over the coming year.”
