Olympic legacy would live on
THERE is a certain amount of confidence in the air that Queensland could get the 2032 Olympics.
Given that the State Government has said it would be a “Games for the State” we in the Far North need to get our act together now and work out what legacies we really want from that major international event.
Ideally we want to get this underway immediately so that these legacy projects can start generating jobs and income well before the starter’s gun goes off in 2032.
The projects we choose need to advance our local economy and be the drivers of new and different forms of enterprise and commerce.
Yes, sports infrastructure must be commercially competent and needs to pay its own way and not become another costly burden on the rate and tax payer.
Unfortunately stadiums, whether they are oval, rectangular, undercover or otherwise, do not make money. It’s not just a matter of finding over $200 million to build them, they cost dollars in seven-figure sums to run and maintain each year.
These sort of numbers are generally not acceptable to the majority of the community who don’t want their rates and taxes to go up.
Let’s be real in terms of the Olympics — Cairns is not likely to get England playing Brazil in soccer or Australia versus the US in basketball so we need to look for sports and the consequent infrastructure that can help build our long-term economy in an ongoing manner. One that also reduces our exposure to the somewhat volatile leisure tourism market.
One sport that comes to mind is mountain biking.
Cairns has a heritage and history in this sport. It is internationally recognised and we currently have the world champion female downhiller (Tracey Hannah) as a resident.
We’ve hosted world championships and world cup events in recent times so the basics are already in place.
Many would not realise how massive mountain biking is internationally. Just go to a local FNQ event like the RRR and you’ll see 600-plus riders participating. Not one bike is under $1000 with most being between $4000 and $15,000.
The beauty of this sport is that the participants, social and professional, do travel. The sport has been the making of many a ski resort around the world like Whistler in Canada with strong out-of-season visitation and towns like Derby in Tasmania that didn’t have great prospects but are now booming on the back of MTB tourism.
The important Olympic legacy would be a permanent upgrading of the facilities and tracks at Smithfield.
Our region would benefit in the years before the Olympics by way of more international events and the visitation by associated teams coming here to acclimatise in the years leading up to the Games.
Post-Olympic tourism would be built on the back of a great reputation, a magnificent region and new experiences like the Wangetti trail taking in the coastline between Cairns and Port Douglas.
To complement this opportunity and take advantage of acclimatisation training for all Olympic sports is the establishment of a high-performance training centre.
This would be a perfect fit for our region. Countries from around the world could send their sports teams to our magnificent part of the world to train in a true tropical environment.
Development at North Cairns would be ideal. With an accompanying new athletics track, the facility would be complemented by access to our existing aquatics, hockey and tennis centres, proximity to the airport, a full range of accommodation and only 10 minutes from two universities.
Throw away the emotional attachments to our own preferred sports and the location just makes sense.
If we got stuck into it, this could be up and running within two years, giving us 10 years to cement our reputation as an international training destination leading up to the Olympics. After that we continue to grow a commercially sustainable business that doesn’t rely on any level of government ongoing funding. All local sports would have access on a userpays basis.
Cairns has all the attributes to become the tropical sports training capital of the world. Why shouldn’t we have an elite facility that a “kid from the Cape” can have access to while also attracting the best of the New York Yankees or Manchester United teams to participate in pre or post season training.
Far North Queensland is a very attractive destination with a great reputation.
We need to make it work for us now and, more importantly, create new and exciting opportunities for our kids in the long-term future.
OUR REGION WOULD BENEFIT IN THE YEARS BEFORE THE OLYMPICS BY WAY OF MORE INTERNATIONAL EVENTS AND THE VISITATION BY ASSOCIATED TEAMS COMING HERE …