Gold Coast using Glasgow 2014 as their benchmark
THE vow to deliver the ‘best-ever Games’ was expected. Well, you wouldn’t envisage the Aussies being anything but bold — and willing to declare their ambitions to the world.
The nod towards the brilliance of Glasgow 2014 was, likewise, hardly a surprise. Nobody in the Commonwealth could deny that the Second City of the Empire put on one heck of a show three years ago.
However, amid the upbeat speeches and promises about an event now less than 12 months away, yesterday’s One Year To Go ticket launch here on the Gold Coast contained something more important than pats on the back and gleeful anticipation. Because there is an understanding that the entire movement needs the 2018 Games to do a very specific job.
They must be brilliant but not ‘blinged-up’, fantastic but without a hint of flash — lest the whole extravaganza seems too daunting, too damned expensive, to cities in less wealthy corners of the Commonwealth.
Above all, they have to prove that it makes commercial sense to throw a couple of billion at staging a circus in town for less than a fortnight. And show, in the wake of Durban running out of money and being stripped of 2022 hosting rights, that it is possible to stay within a budget while getting the job done.
‘You’ve got to remember that these Games cost a lot of money to put on,’ acknowledged 2018 chairman Peter Beattie, the former Premier of Queensland.
‘So we’ve got to get an economic return. There has to be a legacy. It has to be a great sporting event. But it has to be much more than that.
‘The Commonwealth Games, in terms of having a long-term future, depends on us taking the critical mass of experience that Glasgow had — to ensure they continue to be a success.
‘Because we still want to see a Games in Durban one day. We’re a bit disappointed that it didn’t happen in South Africa and, although we understand why, it wasn’t our decision.
‘If we can share some of this experience and support other nations in the Commonwealth, we can actually help them to bid.
‘They will still be their Games. I’m not trying to be paternalistic about it. What the Commonwealth should do is work in partnership with cities looking to bid.
‘So we do have high ambitions. We really want these Games to be a success. But we also want them to be a role model.’
Durban being denied the honour of becoming the first African hosts obviously raises questions over where the Games go from here. While an English city will gladly step into the breach in five years’ time, the credibility of the competition will not survive unless it goes somewhere other than the UK or Australia over the next couple of cycles.
Beattie, a natural politician eager to point out his own Scottish roots, sees potential in recent upheavals back in the mother country.
‘Post-Brexit, the Commonwealth has got to find its way in the world,’ he said.
‘And I think the Commonwealth Games, in this situation, have more relevance than ever before. It’s true that nations can be put off bidding just by the scale of the Games. And that’s why we run on a strict budget. That’s one of the legacies we want to leave, this idea that it can be done.
‘It’s costing us two billion dollars, we’ve got half a billion in revenue coming in — but then there are economic benefits of between three and four billion.
‘Now, that’s a lot of money. But, if you look at the infrastructure that has been built, the Gold Coast will be a better place.
‘We’ve got a light railway now, the heavy railway has been improved, the roads are better, education has been improved.
‘The athletes’ village will be a knowledge centre. We are doing that in conjunction with the university. One of the other venues will be a sound stage for making movies. There has to be a long-term economic benefit.
‘For the future of the Games, we have to be able to keep the costs down. And, as chairman of the committee, I can tell you it’s hard to do that. But we are on budget and on time. We found that we have to do things smarter.
‘Unless you can do that, it makes it very difficult to run an event like this. We are very budget-conscious. It is about using things that are already in place — and getting a return on anything you develop.’
At an event graced by Commonwealth, World and Olympic champions here in Surfer’s Paradise yesterday, the official positivity was off the charts.
It took no prompting for the government minister responsible for the Games, Kate Jones, to declare: ‘I’m confident that we can keep our promise to deliver the best Commonwealth Games the world has ever seen.’
Beattie shares that ambition, but cautioned: ‘The truth is that we’ve had some fantastic Games.
‘Glasgow was just sensational. We can obviously use the experience of Glasgow. We’ve got a number of people who were involved in the 2014 Games now working for us here.
‘If you look at recent times, Glasgow — and Melbourne, which was also very good in 2006 — set very high benchmarks. So, if we equal Glasgow, we’ll be really delighted.’