Mr ADAMSON - 1996-10-16
The Commonwealth Games Association of Australia will announce on Friday which Australian city will bid for the year 2006 Commonwealth Games. What is the current status of the Darwin bid?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, most people in the Territory would be aware of the Darwin bid to become the host city for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. When they first heard that we were making a bid, many people asked how Darwin was able to do that. However, as people have examined the details and the viability of the proposal, there has been a dramatic swing in support of it. That was recognised most clearly during the recent visit by the Commonwealth Games Association's assessment team that visited Brisbane, Melbourne and Darwin to assess the
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formal bids. There is no doubt that, when it came here, the body language etc of its members confirmed that it was sceptical about Darwin's bid. It was almost as if they felt that they had to do the right thing and come and see what we were talking about. However, by the end of the 2 days, their body language had changed totally. The team was very supportive of what it regards as a very high quality and viable bid. We are receiving that reaction continually.
The Northern Territory sporting community has come in very strongly behind this bid. The choice that the Commonwealth Games Association will be facing on Friday this week is whether it wants a Commonwealth Games that will comply with the way they have been run traditionally to meet the ethos of the games - a celebration of the bringing together of the Commonwealth family of nations in an athletic competition in a spirit of friendship - or whether it wants a pseudo-Olympic Games. There is no doubt that the Melbourne bid for the Commonwealth Games is seen by that city as a consolation prize for missing out on the 1996 Olympic Games. That is why it has gone for a brighter, larger, flashier games proposal. There is a clear choice to be made by the Commonwealth Games Association.
Obviously, Brisbane has a track record. It ran a very successful games in 1982. The question is whether it is considered appropriate that it should be offered 2 bites at the cherry in a row. Our bid is being considered very seriously by the Commonwealth Games Association. The member for Casuarina lived in Brisbane before, during and after the Commonwealth Games in 1982. As he has said, and as the Queensland government says, the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane was the catalyst for the major growth and development of tourism in south-eastern Queensland. Years of publicity lead up to the games and that publicity continues naturally through them and has a flow-on effect afterwards. The economic stimulus of an event such as a Commonwealth Games is quite extraordinary. There could be no better example than the previous games in Brisbane. The Northern Territory could certainly gain that.
We have so much to offer to a Commonwealth Games. I do not propose to go through the details of what I intend to advise the voting members of the association on Friday. It is still a competition and there are only so many punches one is prepared to flag. In terms of sport alone, it would advance the construction of facilities in the Northern Territory by 10 years. It would advance sports development in the north of Australia by 20 years. It would place Darwin on the tourism map. It would provide the opportunity for Australian sports to utilise the games to build sporting links between Australia and Asia, in particular, because of our relationships in that area. There would be many very positive benefits. Certainly it would be a significant event.
Melbourne will propose that the games be held in March 2006. At the beginning of March, it would have the Formula 1 Grand Prix, in the middle of March the Commonwealth Games and, at the end of March, the AFL pre-season grand final. It has an array of other events planned for the course of that year. If the games are held in Territory, it would certainly not be simply the event of the month in the Territory. It would be the most significant positive event to have happened in Darwin in the course of its history. It would place Darwin on the world sporting and tourism map in a most significant way. It would have major economic potential for the Northern Territory and for Darwin in particular, and would do much to advance the cause of sports facilities and development in the Northern Territory.
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We have no illusions about this. We recognise that it is a very hard call, and that most people may well consider Melbourne to be the favourite. However, favourites do not always win races, and we have been coming from the back of the field with a fair rush towards the end. All the team is excited and the adrenalin is running pretty high. I hope that Territorians will wish us well. Let us hope we can come out on Friday afternoon with something that will really set a vision and a target for Territorians to aim for over the next decade.
Page 1700
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, most people in the Territory would be aware of the Darwin bid to become the host city for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. When they first heard that we were making a bid, many people asked how Darwin was able to do that. However, as people have examined the details and the viability of the proposal, there has been a dramatic swing in support of it. That was recognised most clearly during the recent visit by the Commonwealth Games Association's assessment team that visited Brisbane, Melbourne and Darwin to assess the
Page 1698
formal bids. There is no doubt that, when it came here, the body language etc of its members confirmed that it was sceptical about Darwin's bid. It was almost as if they felt that they had to do the right thing and come and see what we were talking about. However, by the end of the 2 days, their body language had changed totally. The team was very supportive of what it regards as a very high quality and viable bid. We are receiving that reaction continually.
The Northern Territory sporting community has come in very strongly behind this bid. The choice that the Commonwealth Games Association will be facing on Friday this week is whether it wants a Commonwealth Games that will comply with the way they have been run traditionally to meet the ethos of the games - a celebration of the bringing together of the Commonwealth family of nations in an athletic competition in a spirit of friendship - or whether it wants a pseudo-Olympic Games. There is no doubt that the Melbourne bid for the Commonwealth Games is seen by that city as a consolation prize for missing out on the 1996 Olympic Games. That is why it has gone for a brighter, larger, flashier games proposal. There is a clear choice to be made by the Commonwealth Games Association.
Obviously, Brisbane has a track record. It ran a very successful games in 1982. The question is whether it is considered appropriate that it should be offered 2 bites at the cherry in a row. Our bid is being considered very seriously by the Commonwealth Games Association. The member for Casuarina lived in Brisbane before, during and after the Commonwealth Games in 1982. As he has said, and as the Queensland government says, the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane was the catalyst for the major growth and development of tourism in south-eastern Queensland. Years of publicity lead up to the games and that publicity continues naturally through them and has a flow-on effect afterwards. The economic stimulus of an event such as a Commonwealth Games is quite extraordinary. There could be no better example than the previous games in Brisbane. The Northern Territory could certainly gain that.
We have so much to offer to a Commonwealth Games. I do not propose to go through the details of what I intend to advise the voting members of the association on Friday. It is still a competition and there are only so many punches one is prepared to flag. In terms of sport alone, it would advance the construction of facilities in the Northern Territory by 10 years. It would advance sports development in the north of Australia by 20 years. It would place Darwin on the tourism map. It would provide the opportunity for Australian sports to utilise the games to build sporting links between Australia and Asia, in particular, because of our relationships in that area. There would be many very positive benefits. Certainly it would be a significant event.
Melbourne will propose that the games be held in March 2006. At the beginning of March, it would have the Formula 1 Grand Prix, in the middle of March the Commonwealth Games and, at the end of March, the AFL pre-season grand final. It has an array of other events planned for the course of that year. If the games are held in Territory, it would certainly not be simply the event of the month in the Territory. It would be the most significant positive event to have happened in Darwin in the course of its history. It would place Darwin on the world sporting and tourism map in a most significant way. It would have major economic potential for the Northern Territory and for Darwin in particular, and would do much to advance the cause of sports facilities and development in the Northern Territory.
Page 1699
We have no illusions about this. We recognise that it is a very hard call, and that most people may well consider Melbourne to be the favourite. However, favourites do not always win races, and we have been coming from the back of the field with a fair rush towards the end. All the team is excited and the adrenalin is running pretty high. I hope that Territorians will wish us well. Let us hope we can come out on Friday afternoon with something that will really set a vision and a target for Territorians to aim for over the next decade.
Page 1700
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016