A government report has secretly examined if the state can run Queensland's crown jewel of stadiums, Lang Park, as successfully as a private company with intimate political connections.
Stadiums Queensland, the state authority that owns nine venues including Lang Park, defended its decision to proceed with the tender following KPMG's review. AP: PA/Bradley CollyerPoliticians on both sides have also declared tickets from ASM and its predecessor entities, to concerts from P!nk to U2 and Celine Dion.
Politicians from both sides have declared tickets from ASM, including to P!nk, who performed at Lang Park earlier this year.Mr Lister told the ABC that his organisation was part of "the world's leading venue management and services company" and "extremely proud" to have successfully operated Lang Park.
ASM's Lang Park management contract was expiring in December 2022, and Stadiums Queensland asked KPMG to review management options.The NRL is held at Lang Park every week.Large chunks remain heavily censored because Stadiums Queensland cited the information having touched on Cabinet considerations or being commercially sensitive.
For concerts, Lang Park was "considered to be the premium venue" for anyone coming to Queensland and factors other than venue operator influenced concert numbers, KPMG said. Lang Park hosts rugby league’s Brisbane Broncos, rugby union’s Queensland Reds and soccer’s Brisbane Roar.Suncorp's baseline was not clarified, but KPMG wrote Stadiums Queensland thought the initial number was "set too high, making it challenging for performance to be met".