Brisbane was picked to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids.
The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne hosted in 1956.
“We know what it takes to deliver a successful Games in Australia,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told International Olympic Committee members in an 11-minute live video link from his office.
The victory led to a fireworks display in Brisbane that was broadcast to IOC members in their five-star hotel in Tokyo.
Brisbane follows 2028 host Los Angeles in getting 11 years to prepare for hosting the Games. Paris will host in 2024.
The 2032 deal looked done months before the formal decision at the IOC meeting, which was held ahead of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games.
This is the first-time the format was designed to retrench campaign costs, give the IOC more control in dealing discreetly with preferred candidates and removed the risk of vote-buying.
The project was described by the IOC as “a passion-driven, athlete-centric offer from a sports-loving nation.” Events will be staged across Queensland, including in Gold Coast, which hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Brisbane’s renowned cricket stadium, known as the Gabba, will be upgraded and may host the sport at the Games. Cricket was played once at the Olympics, at the 1900 Paris Games.
The next three Summer Games hosts — starting with Paris in 2024 — are now secured in wealthy and traditional Olympic nations without any of the trio facing a contested vote.
The future hosts offer stability for the IOC which was stung by the two previous Summer Games contests being tainted by allegations of vote-buying when multiple cities were on the ballot.
The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the recently held 2020 Tokyo Olympics are still under investigation by French prosecutors. They have implicated officials who then lost their place in the IOC family as active or honorary members.
Brisbane said it already has 84% of stadiums and event venues in place to fit the IOC’s modern demand of avoiding excessive spending and potential white-elephant projects.
A new swimming arena is planned and billions of dollars will be spent on transport projects — not because of the Olympics but in time for them, a Brisbane officials said.