ONE STEP CLOSER TO GOLDEN TICKET WIN

THE potential windfall for the Gold Coast of an Olympic Games in the region should not be underestimated – and nor should the momentous effort involved in staging a truly global event.

Where there’s effort, there’s opportunity and the city has thousands of highly capable and innovative companies who have much to offer.

It’s important these opportunities are not squandered, and that collaboration and planning sets off at a sprint as soon as the starter’s gun goes off – assuming it does – in July.

The reality of an event as huge as the Olympics is that national and international expertise and resources will be required to stage it, but these major contracts should be struck with a view that local businesses will be called upon wherever possible so they may reap the immediate benefits of the work as well as grow their reputations, skills and capacity.

A critical lesson from the GC2018 Commonwealth Games was that, in the competition for contracts, many companies were unscrupulous in their applications.

Scores used fake addresses and unstaffed pop-up offices to masquerade as Gold Coast companies to win favour with Games organisers who had a target to hit.

This time, from the outset, there must be a zero tolerance approach to misleading applications and a stringent verification process to ensure fairness.

From a higher-level perspective, the benefits of the Games to the Gold Coast hold great potential in terms of being a catalyst for infrastructure, and will simply be an amazing experience for all of us who live through it.

Not to mention the stunning Coast beaches being broadcast across the world. Bring on that announcement.