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Goondiwindi Cotton, a Queensland regional apparel maker with more than 30 years in the business, has lodged a formal expression of interest to supply uniforms for volunteers and officials at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, launching a public campaign it hopes will test whether the Games deliver on their promise to "reach beyond Brisbane".
The family-owned company, based in the southern Queensland border town from which it takes its name, says the contract will generate more than $40 million in economic output for the Goondiwindi community over five years.
Goondiwindi Cotton sells through more than 220 retailers nationally, has its own e-commerce platform and a flagship store in Goondiwindi.
The company has pitched its bid under the banner "Goondiwindi Goes For Gold", framing its campaign around regional provenance, Australian-made credentials and the Games' stated commitment to spreading benefits across Queensland.
Goondiwindi Cotton founder Sam Coulton says the company formally lodged its expression of interest this week.
“We want to bring the bush to Brisbane in 2032,” says Coulton, who founded Goondiwindi Cotton in 1992 to help reduce impacts from the boom-and-bust cycles of farming.
“My family has been proudly farming this land for a very long time. We’ve been trusted for more than 100 years to feed and clothe people in Australia and around the world, so it would be our honour to be selected as a supplier for the hard-working volunteers.
“This is bigger than our family business. We want to put our whole region on the world stage, and we’ve got the capacity and drive to do it.”
His grandson Harry Coulton, who helps run the business, says the bid carries implications well beyond the company itself.
“If we win this bid, we’ll be able to continue supporting jobs across our beautiful region and create a high-quality uniform that will last long after the closing ceremony,” says Harry Coulton.
“Giving back and supporting our community is very important to us, and the provenance of our cotton grown from local soil runs deeply through everything that we do.
“This is bigger than just one family-owned business. We want to put our region on the world stage, and we’ve got the capacity and drive to do it.”
The Brisbane 2032 procurement program encompasses $2.5 billion in opportunities across around 500 categories, with uniforms listed as an active expression of interest category on the organising committee's procurement page.
At the Paris 2024 and Gold Coast 2018 Games, more than 80 per cent of contracts were awarded to small and medium enterprises, according to business.gov.au.
Goondiwindi Regional Council Mayor Lawrence Springborg has backed the bid by Goondiwindi Cotton, calling on decision-makers to match rhetoric with action.
“Regional businesses can deliver world-class outcomes, and Goondiwindi Cotton is proof of that,” says Springborg.
“This bid is not just for Goondiwindi Cotton; it’s a bid for all of the Goondiwindi region.
“This will help the Government deliver on its promise to see the Games ‘reach beyond Brisbane’ and ‘present legacy options for all of Queensland’.
“Now is time to go for gold and bring the bush to Brisbane in 2032.”
The broader Brisbane 2032 procurement program sits within a $7.1 billion venue capital works funding envelope, with the Queensland Government's Delivery Plan forecasting $8.1 billion in benefits for the state and $17.6 billion nationally.
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