Skipping town for the Games? You’re making a big mistake
THERE were cheers, there were tears. Thousands hugged, high-fived and punched the air. November 11, 2011, was a special date in Gold Coast history - the day the city was awarded the Commonwealth Games.
For the thousands who celebrated the decision at the Broadwater Parklands in Southport there could be no doubt - the city was soon to host one of the greatest parties the world had seen.
Fast forward six and a half years, and the scene is a little different. Infectious enthusiasm has been replaced by creeping concern.
The multiple missteps of organisers have convinced many the Games is no longer a party they wish to attend. One week out, the city is a ghost town, the only busy facility Gold Coast Airport, which has been playing host to an alarming number of locals who have decided to fly into temporary exile.
Why has this happened? Too often, organisers have loaded a gun, taken aim, and fired at their feet.
There was the infantile ‘Get Set For The Games’ advertising campaign, which added fuel to the fire of worries about traffic by appearing to suggest walking or riding children’s pushbikes would be the only viable way to get around.
There was the treatment of our iconic Meter Maids, who appeared anathema to an excruciatingly politically correct celebration of the Gold Coast alien to many who actually live here.
There was the bungling of tickets, which saw thousands sent out with wrong dates and times, and the distribution of ill-fitting uniforms to Games volunteers.
Most dispiriting of all, there was the news last week that hotels are a long way from selling out, kicking off a blame game before the Games themselves have even begun.
But if the joyful exuberance at the Broadwater Parklands was a little overblown, so too has been the despondency of recent times.
Peer beyond the negative pronouncements, the cackhanded suggestion by GOLDOC Chairman Peter Beattie that locals must “suck it up”, and the real story is of a city very well placed to live up to the promise of six years ago.
The public relations regarding traffic planning may have been badly bungled, but the measures taken look likely to deliver.
M1 collisions have been halved since the drop in speed limits and smart new Games Lanes are popping up across the city.
Much of the usual Easter tourist traffic will be off the roads and into buses and trams.
And traffic cops and rapid response teams will be out in record numbers to keep things moving.
It may be tempting fate to say it, but wouldn’t it be richly ironic if Easter holiday traffic was actually less bad than usual because the Games are on?
When ticketholders reach venues, they are in for a real treat.
They will be greeted by an army of smiling, well-trained volunteers, keen to help them to their seats in world-class stadia. From the magnificent new gymnastics centre in Coomera, to the spectacular sight that is the revamped Metricon, the facilities are far better than you’ll find in any other regional centre.
We have some early hints of just how good the venues will be, with the Aquatic Centre an impressive sight on TV images beamed into homes across the nation during the recent Australian Swimming trials.
Then there is the party. Sure, the official Games Festival has some decidedly odd elements, and events like ‘Willy and Wally’ (”existential plight is revealed through weighty ethical arguments around climate change”) which would appear better suited to entertaining a Greens collective in inner Melbourne.
But there is so much more going on.
NightQuarter in Helensvale will be open from noon on every day of the Games, playing host to a remarkable array of food and top-notch artists such as Baker Boy, whose brilliant track Marryuna has marked him out as one of the hottest acts in Australian music.
It will be a similar story in Southport, billed as party central, where the Chinatown area will be a hive of activity from morning to night throughout the Games.
And who would bet against Amy Shark getting the whole party off to a rollicking good start when she performs at Broadbeach next Wednesday?
The elements are all in place for a great twelve days, which makes the public relations performance of organisers over the last couple of months perplexing.
Perhaps they have been wilfully lowering expectations, in the sure knowledge that no matter what follows the Games would then be regarded as a resounding triumph.
But it has gone too far. If anything, we have all been guilty of paying these unctuous spokespeople and their pronouncements too much attention.
It’s going to be a hell of a party – and it’s a great shame that so many locals seem intent on missing it.
These are twelve days to be savoured when you can, even if you don’t have tickets.
Line the marathon route and cheer on the runners. Go see Amy Shark and the many other free performances. Soak up the atmosphere in Broadbeach, Helensvale and Southport.
This city is about to prove the doomsayers wrong, and live up to the dreams of the thousands who gathered on that wonderful morning in Southport just over six years ago.
WE HAVE ALL BEEN GUILTY OF PAYING THESE UNCTUOUS SPOKESPEOPLE AND THEIR PRONOUNCEMENTS TOO MUCH ATTENTION