REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN SATURDAY OCT 4, 2008

THE Aussies were coming back to their spiritual home on the Gold Coast with a landmark agreement basing the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships at Kurrawa Beach until 2022.

With hopes of the titles returning to the Coast rapidly fading, Premier Anna Bligh stepped in to breathe new life into negotiations, which had stalled over demanding tender requirements.

The 13-year agreement nutted out between the Government, Surf Life Saving Australia and the Gold Coast City Council was signed, securing Kurrawa as the championship’s permanent headquarters and guaranteeing Kurrawa as the host venue at least seven times until 2022.

It was believed the State Government would provide cash, with the council providing other resources “in kind” to help fund the event, estimated to inject more than $20 million to the local economy.

Under the deal, Kurrawa would hold the event from 2010 until 2012 and then have two years on and two years off until 2022 if other venues successfully bid for the championships. It would see the Gold Coast host the Aussies in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 while other states would be able to bid for the event in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

The championships was to finish a three-year run at Perth’s Scarborough Beach in 2009 amid concerns the event had lost much of its high profile and appeal because of the move from Kurrawa, which had hosted the titles for 12 years until 2006.

It was later moved away from Kurrawa to the southern Gold Coast after the deaths of two competitors.