Not even cancer will stop Anthony Ryan from doing everything he can to let people know: “Brisbane’s star is on the rise”.
Ryan matter-of-factly informs me he will be having surgery for prostate cancer tomorrow when we meet on a Friday in late February.
Framed by sharp lines of sleek CBD high rises and the stately city clock tower through the window behind him, the Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) CEO talks with an unrivalled passion about the city and its people.
As the second-most expensive undertaking at the time after the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Brisbane was not short on aspiration one hundred years ago when they built Brisbane City Hall and its clock tower, and we are not short on aspiration now.
“Brisbane’s star is on the rise. People want to be here, they want to visit here, and our event programming per year is just going to get stronger and stronger,” Ryan says.
We are sitting in the BEDA office, 20 floors above the CBD, which Ryan tells me is once again brimming with workers. There has been a 10 per cent increase to almost 90 per cent office occupancy between 2024-2025.
“By the time that the Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner receives the [Olympic] relay baton in LA ‘28, the majority of the world will now know something about Brisbane. Well, actually, the brand of Brisbane,” Ryan says.
“What I’m focused on is: what will that brand be?”
He says apart from economic and tourism opportunities, the games provide a chance to be “aspirational” in solving sustainability, accessibility, and other issues the city is grappling with.
On a practical level, there is a lot of work to be done to prepare for the Olympics – houses must be built, Olympic infrastructure, and hotels too.
“One of the biggest issues that our city has had to face is our productivity issues,” Ryan says.
He says issues with blown out budgets and timelines on many construction projects are caused by low productivity, and fixing this would help Brisbane’s image when trying to attract investors.
Brisbane’s wonderful lifestyle is another key factor in attracting ambitious overseas professionals to work here, Ryan says, who in turn contribute to research, education and industry.
Examples like Brisbane-based technology companies PsiQuantum and Vaxxas are pioneering global scientific advancements.
“It’s this overarching focus that BEDA has to create this Rubik’s cube of ideas,” he says.
Brisbane may be aspirational, but it is our big country town attitude that is the secret to our success.
Along with people like Ryan, who has combined his experience as a teacher and charity CEO with his outlook on doing business.
When he started at BEDA four years ago, he was surprised that key CEOs in Brisbane didn’t have each other’s phone numbers and quickly moved to change that, setting up meetings and a shared calendar of Brisbane events.
Ryan says BEDA allows the city’s genuine decision makers to “hunt as a pack”.
He says while cities like Sydney are “carnivorous” in their competitiveness, Brisbane leaders are “charging together”, with CEOs from a range of industries sharing information for the good of the city as part of the Better Brisbane Alliance.
Coordinating major events so they complement each other – like a Marvel exhibition on the same weekend as the NRL Magic Round, or a British concert while a British football team is in town – allows the city to practise for the Olympics by catering to influxes of visitors on smaller scales.
Brisbane cashed in on record international visitors’ spending of $3.6 billion in 2025.
Ultimately, what Ryan is trying to achieve with BEDA comes down to a feeling.
Ryan recalls the “electric” experience of hearing the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo’s final rehearsal when they came to Brisbane in February and knowing it was a taste of the atmosphere we will feel at the Olympics.
Standing in the concrete tunnel under Suncorp Stadium and soaking in the deafening sounds of hundreds of drummers and bagpipers playing Scotland the Brave, he watched tears streaming down their faces.
The tattoo must have played this song a thousand times, yet they were crying at the thought of their final performance in Brisbane.
He asked the artistic director why they chose Brisbane of all the cities in the world to visit, who replied that they felt truly welcome here.
“We want to be known by the way that we welcome,” Ryan says.
The clock outside chimes twice, causing Ryan to pause. “Is it two o’clock?”
He apologises; he has a meeting to get to.
It’s his final day at work before he takes time off to recuperate from a potentially life-saving surgery. All going well, he will be back by the time you read this in April.
Ryan doesn’t spend long dwelling on his illness. He has a city to shape.
What do you think defines Brisbane’s brand? Have Your Say – email [email protected]
