Brisbane pounces

Coast snubbed as parade location

IT was home to the Commonwealth Games for 11 days and was reshaped over four years leading up to it, but the Gold Coast has been snubbed as the Queensland location for a ticker-tape parade for Australian athletes.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk yesterday announced the athletes would walk down Queen St Mall in the heart of the state capital, allowing fans to thank the Australian athletes who “did a terrific job to bring home a lot of medals for their nation”.

The announcement came in the wake of widespread public anger about the lack of attention athletes received during the Closing Ceremony.

To give Australian athletes the thanks they deserved, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association said yesterday it was investigating options for a national ticker-tape parade tour.

Within a day Brisbane had locked it in for April 27, but after the announcement Cr Quirk’s office could not provide any information on the event.

The Lord Mayor championed the opportunity to thank the Australian team while not missing a chance to have a dig at the Closing Ceremony.

“It is important these events are about athletes and they did deserve to be better acknowledged in the closing ceremony,” Cr Quirk said.

“We are going to have our chance in (Brisbane) because next Friday week we are going to be having a ticker-tape parade for the Commonwealth Games athletes where all the people of Brisbane can get out and support those athletes.”

The announcement caused an uproar with Gold Coast residents.

“These were the Gold Coast Games. What has Brisbane got to do with it?” Hellen Pollard said.

“The parade should be here, it would be a start to save face of the horrific closing ceremony.’’

An Australian Commonwealth Games Association spokesman said the Gold Coast had its chance to say thank you and good- bye at a public event at Surfers Paradise on Monday.

“More than 150 athletes attended the celebration to thank the local community for the way they embraced the Games,” the spokesman said. “CGA is open to working with city councils in Games host cities in Queensland on further celebrations following the capital city celebrations.”

Gold Coast Acting Mayor Donna Gates said that was enough for the Gold Coast.

“We had our fantastic community celebration to celebrate and honour the athletes first thing on Monday morning,” she said.