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Bleijie said any decisions about venues would be left to the independent panel, but still made his feelings known about one of the planned venues in his patch.
“It’s no secret that I’ve had concerns about the Kawana indoor centre, where the Sunshine Coast Council and the former Labor government had placed it, because of the displacement of the Kawana Dolphins [rugby league club],” he said.
The proposed stadium upgrade and indoor arena in Bleijie’s Kawana electorate. The arena plan has attracted his ire because it would displace a rugby league club.Credit: Sunshine Coast Council
The site of the proposed 6000-seat arena at Kawana, next to the outdoor stadium, was announced almost two years ago.
It was met with opposition from Sunshine Coast LNP politicians Ted O’Brien, the federal member for Fairfax, and state Maroochydore MP Fiona Simpson, who both argued for Olympic basketball to be leveraged to build a convention centre in the new Maroochydore CBD.
“Since I’ve announced the 100-day review, which will commence in a couple of weeks, I’ve had community members contact me about that, and that’s why we’ve included all these minor venues into the 100-day review,” Bleijie said.
“We’re leaving it to an independent panel now.”
Another gazetted ministerial change has seen Tourism Minister Andrew Powell take responsibility for the declaration of major events at government-run stadiums from Sports Minister Tim Mander. Suncorp Stadium, and other venues, are increasingly used for tourist drawcards, such as concerts.