Volume: 7.2 (2026)

Hidden Histories: Truth-Telling, Treaties, and Whitewashing the Brisbane Olympics

Sam Duncan and Tom Heenan
https://doi.org/10.5406/26396025.7.2.02

 23.09.2026

Abstract

Seven years out from the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, the Games’ portrayal of Indigenous culture serves more as strategic branding than as a vehicle for genuine reconciliation. Despite pledges by Andrew Liveris and the Organizing Committee to integrate First Nations voices, these efforts coincided with the Queensland government’s 2024 cancellation of its Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry, a key mechanism for addressing colonial history. The article explores how this political reversal and the Games’ reconciliation narrative reflect a broader pattern of denialism in Queensland politics. Drawing on Sydney 2000 and Vancouver 2010, and literature on Indigenous representation in sport, it interrogates the conditional nature of Australia’s celebration of Indigenous culture. It examines the roles of Liveris, Premier David Crisafulli, and Olympic bodies in shaping inclusion. Foregrounding Indigenous voices, the article contends that without meaningful leadership and truth-telling, Brisbane 2032 risks becoming a performative exercise that obscures Australia’s colonial legacy.

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