WINNERS IN GAMES BID

IF ever there was convincing evidence of the power of events tourism and the Gold Coast’s place at the centre of things, it is the massive response to the ballot process for Commonwealth Games tickets.

More than 1.2 million people were prepared to put their money where their mouth was and jumped in, vying for places in the stands to watch and cheer for their sporting heroes.

Hundreds of thousands of seats have been allocated and, as we reveal today, the Gold Coast is ahead of where Glasgow was at the same time in the leadup to its games in terms of sales.

The pressure is now on to ensure our Games are the best ever.

We’ve built the stadiums and the pools, and mapped out the routes for road events. The city is transforming its public and private transport systems for the event. Domestic and international crowds are coming in huge numbers.

So much has been done, but there is still a long way to go as the city works to make sure we get this right, for the sake of a successful running of the biggest show in the nation and Commonwealth in 2018 and for the sake of the Gold Coast’s reputation.

Security and transport issues have been well chronicled, but as reported this week other matters must be sorted so organisers can sleep easily at night.

The cause of a mysterious power outage that blacked out Broadbeach, which is a major Games organisation and entertainment hub, has to be found and fixed.

And there is unease in the public and business communities about the council suddenly agonising over whether to renew the contract of CEO Dale Dickson by the end of the year.

Mr Dickson has been a straight player as the city’s chief bureaucrat.

He sits on many boards and committees, including involvement in planning for the Commonwealth Games.

With that event just 10 months away, is this the time to start talking about changing horses midstream? It is a surprising development, although experience should have taught Gold Coasters not to be that surprised by politics in this town.

The federal and state tourism ministers are also trading barbs. It is not ideal in the countdown to our moment in the spotlight.