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2032 boss clarifies nuclear power comments as Games symbols travel SEQ
By Tony Moore
The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will not use nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions, the organising committee president Andrew Liveris clarified on Saturday afternoon.
Though the Games have a carbon-positive goal, Liveris said he was not advocating for the events’ energy infrastructure to be nuclear.
Brisbane sports fans Jeremy Rigby and wife Yuko want to see the trampolining and swimming as well as skateboarding and the Opening Ceremony at the 2032 Games. Credit: Tony Moore
“I am 100 per cent aligned with the energy policies of the state and the country,” Liveris told journalists at an event in front of Brisbane’s City Hall to mark nine years until the 2032 Games begin.
“My comment [in Saturday’s The Australian newspaper] was all about aspiration on technologies.”
Liveris said his day job as chair of luxury electric car brand Lucid Motors and director of the investment fund BlackRock Long Term Private Capital includes researching future energy technologies.
“I never said we should use nuclear power for the Games. I said nuclear should be on the table for clean energy; that’s all,” he said, adding that nuclear power was widely used in Europe.
Liveris said Brisbane’s 2032 Games would be climate positive; above the climate-neutral bar being set for the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
“We are going to be the first climate-positive Games. That is a pretty high bar.”
Brisbane 2032 Games president Andrew Liveris, Brisbane 2032 and Games chief executive Cindy Hook mark nine years until the Games begin.Credit: Tony Moore
Liveris’ comments came as the internationally recognised symbols of the Olympics – the five interlaced Olympic Rings and the Agitos of the Paralympics were displayed in Queensland for the first time since the Sydney Olympics closed in 2000.
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president Ian Chesterman said the Victoria’s decision to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games because of rising costs to stage regional events would not mean events in regional Queensland would be scaled back.
“I think the Olympic Games have had a lot of experience in running regional events,” Chesterman said.
“If you look at the Winter Olympic model it is very much based on cities and mountains in a number of regions and a number of villages.
“I think we are well-placed to handle that particular business model.”
The Olympic and Paralympic symbols - what do they represent
Olympic Rings symbol
- Designed by Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin and made public in 1913
- The five inter-laced circles represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games
The Paralympian Agitos
- ‘Agito,’ in Latin, means ‘I move’
- “The Paralympic Agitos, which circle a central point, symbolise the power of the Paralympic Movement to bring together people from around the world and indicate the determination of Paralympic athletes to always move forward, to always progress,” Paralympics Australia president Jock O’Callaghan said.
During the event several Australian Olympians and Paralympians spoke about the influence of Sydney’s 2000 Olympics on their sporting dream.
Wheelchair basketball athlete Hannah Dodd told of watching the Sydney Games as an eight-year-old and seeing the Agitos symbol.
“I remember as an eight-year-old walking out of the stadium going: ‘This is what I want to do’.”
Wheelchair basketballer Hannah Dodd was inspired to become an athlete after watching the 2000 Sydney Games as an eight-year-old.Credit: Tony Moore
Four-time Olympian Cate Campbell, who has won four Olympic swimming gold medals, spoke about watching Sydney’s Games from South Africa, then reflected on the soccer success of the Matildas at the Women’s World Cup.
“We have seen the galvanising power of sport just the past couple of days at the FIFA World Cup and the unifying power that it has had on this nation,” Campbell said.
“Now I want you to think about that, but times it by 10 because the Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event in the world.”
Where to see the Olympic Rings and the Paralympic Agitos this weekend
In Brisbane:
- Saturday at Howard Smith Wharves from 4pm to 8pm on the grassed area behind the restaurants
- Sunday at Wynnum Foreshore near the Wynnum Jetty between 8.30am and 10.30am
- Sunday at Victoria Park, Herston, on the Gumtree Lawn between noon and 2pm
On the Gold Coast:
- Sunday, 9am to 10.30am at the Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre
- Sunday, 11am to 12.30pm at Griffith University’s Gold Coast Campus’ athletic track
- Sunday, 3pm to 4pm Pizzey Park, Miami BMX track
Sunshine Coast:
- Sunday, 8am to 11am at the Nambour Showgrounds Equestrian Centre