MATILDA A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW
Commonwealth Games mascot stole the show in Brisbane in 1982
THE Gold Coast is on the eve of a moment a decade in the making with the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony just 10 days away.
The final preparations are well under way, and organisers have their fingers crossed that years of planning will lead to a smooth and exciting event.
But for many Gold Coasters, the countdown to the Games is reviving plenty of memories of the last time southeast Queensland hosted the event.
The year was 1982 and the state’s biggest ever event was held in Brisbane.
Organisers, including Games chairman Sir Llew Edwards, had spent years developing the event, which would prove to have a transformative effect on Brisbane and the surrounding area.
But in the months leading up to the Games, the Gold Coast became the epicentre of a protest planned to disrupt the event.
The Aboriginal land rights battle was to focus on Tweed Heads and the border area three days before the start of the Games.
Organisers predicted their demonstration would attract worldwide attention.
Several thousand anti-racist protesters were expected to converge on the border region to get their message across.
Organising groups, including the Black Protest Committee and the Adelaide-based Campaign Against Racial Exploitation (CARE), called for a peaceful protest.
“We will ask our people to rally on the other side of the border because at that time Queensland will be even more a police state,” protest committee co-ordinator Ross Watson told the Bulletin at the time.
“This must be a peaceful demonstration that gives us the chance to get our message across to the world.”
CARE co-ordinator Jim Gale said it would be a threeday event featuring “a cavalcade to Brisbane”.
The first day was to have a carnival atmosphere, with song, dance and entertainment. Protesters would then move to the border for a ceremony.
“That’s when we will recognise that the Aborigines will be changing their status when they move over the border into Queensland,” Mr Gale said.
“From there we will travel in cars to Brisbane with banners and placards taking our message to the state’s capital.”
He said protests would be a focal point for world attention on the plight of Aboriginal people.
Despite the protests, the Games came together and the famous opening ceremony was held on September 30 at the QEII stadium.
Though named for the Queen, Elizabeth II was unable to reach Australia in time for the ceremony, which was instead presided over by her husband, Prince Philip.
The Duke of Edinburgh took the Queen’s baton from the final runner, sprinter Raelen Boyle.
The headline act of the ceremony was a performance by entertainer Rolf Harris including a rousing round of Waltzing Matilda which the crowd joined in on.
The event was slightly hampered by high winds, forcing the cancellation of elements of the performance deemed too dangerous.
The moment etched into the minds of all those who attended was when Matilda the Kangaroo, the Games mascot, turned and winked at the crowd.
That iconic moment became etched into the history of the nation and Matilda herself found a home on the Gold Coast after the Games.
She was later installed at Cades County Water Park, now known as Wet’n’Wild and spend more than 20 years before being moved to the Sunshine Coast.