Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that the XXI Commonwealth Games will commence on the Gold Coast with the opening ceremony on Wednesday, 4 April 2018 and the closing ceremony on Sunday, 15 April 2018;

(2) notes that:

(a) more than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 Commonwealth Nations and Territories will be competing;

(b) the athletes will compete in 275 events in 18 different sports and seven para-sports; and

  (c) beach volleyball, para triathlon and women's Rugby Sevens will make their Commonwealth Games debuts and for the first time at a Commonwealth Games, an equal number of men's and women's medal events will be contested;

(3) acknowledges that this year the Commonwealth Games motto will be 'Share the Dream'; and

(4) encourages all Members of Parliament to support the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the Australian sports people representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games.

I'm delighted that the 21st Commonwealth Games are due to start on the Gold Coast from 4 April and will run for 11 days, concluding on 15 April. There will be 71 nations competing, including Gambia, which has been readmitted to the Commonwealth. We will see the best of the best competing, with more than 6,600 athletes and team officials already moving into the villages, competing in 275 events in 18 different sports and seven parasports. Some of the traditional inclusions in this year's games are swimming, athletics, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, hockey, netball and triathlon. I'm probably proficient in about one of those sports. Hopefully the people competing are much better than I am! This year, it's great to see that beach volleyball and paratriathlon are included, as well as the women's rugby sevens making their Commonwealth Games debut. For the first time in the Commonwealth Games, an equal number of men's and women's medal events will be contested, which is an absolutely fabulous outcome for equality.

There are 1.5 million tickets to watch the games and more than a million have already been sold. Preparations are well underway for the opening ceremony on 4 April. A number of communities have participated in the Queen's Baton Relay as the baton has made its way up to the Gold Coast for the 21st Commonwealth Games. The relay has travelled a record 230,000 kilometres around the world, and, while in Australia, will be carried by just under 4,000 baton bearers, including through my own community of Lindsay. I would love to congratulate all of the baton bearers and make special mention of those people in Lindsay who took the baton throughout our community: teacher Craig Beacroft from Penrith, who has been inspirational with his school in fundraising for Relay for Life; Mitchell Beggs-Mowczan from Glenmore Park, the Young Penrith Citizen of the Year 2017, who has contributed to improving the health of our region's Indigenous community; Betty Gallagher from Colyton, an amazing woman who has fostered more than 100 children; Cathy Gardiner from St Clair—St Clair is slightly out of Lindsay, but, as with all good things, we like to claim people from St Clair as our own—who has represented Australia in athletics and now trains athletes with a disability; Alysha Pearson from Cranebrook, who is the current New South Wales under-16 women's hammer-throw champion and recipient of a Local Sporting Champions award—I can throw a hammer, but not really to a medal standard and only usually in frustration during home renovations!—so well done to Alysha; Robert Wearn from Mulgoa, the patron of the Great Walk Foundation; and Cheryl Webb from Werrington, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist. Thank you to all of those people, who made an incredible show bringing that baton through our community.

The world will be watching our games. It's estimated that we will have a global audience of about 1.5 billion people. Hundreds of international media organisations will begin arriving this week. Let's hope that we are on our best behaviour.

Viewers will see the sporting talents and be enthralled by the games, and they will see our beautiful country. These games are a great opportunity to showcase the Gold Coast, Queensland and Australia to the world and, if we're watching at home, they might encourage some of us to get up off the couch, stop being armchair athletes, be a bit more active and catch up with our mates for a game or two.

The economic benefits to holding the games are about $4 billion, including a $2 billion boost to Queensland's economy, including $1.7 billion for the Gold Coast. There are also around $2.6 billion of additional government and private sector investments. To support businesses and to take advantage of the opportunities arising before, during and post games, a number of programs to build capability and capacity have been developed, including the Be Games Ready program, tourism initiatives, support for Indigenous businesses and major event capability development. Everything is absolutely on track for the games. Eighteen world-class venues were built or upgraded, and the amazing infrastructure program supported 1,000 full-time construction jobs.

The first nations welcome ceremony will be hosted on 1 April, and I'm proud that there has been a reconciliation action plan, which has actually delivered a really great outcome for the Yugambeh people on the coast. Gold Coast 2018 is the first major sporting event to have a reconciliation action plan driving employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and for arts and culture. More than 200 employment opportunities have been created for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as one of the key outcomes of the Gold Coast 2018 reconciliation plan. I'm really, really pleased to see that this has happened. And it will be Gold Coast's biggest event.

It is a tremendous effort to prepare for the games, and I congratulate Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Commonwealth Games minister Kate Jones and make mention of the Commonwealth Games stakeholders and thank them. It is very exciting for Australia to be once again involved in hosting the games. We can all share the dream.

I would like to say a special mention to the 1,500 volunteers who will be out there making sure that everyone gets to the venues on time. I thank them for their volunteerism.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm happy to second the motion from the member for Lindsay. As we enter another sitting week here in parliament followed by Easter, already we see the focus turning to the event that will occur after Easter, which is the 21st Commonwealth Games, on the Gold Coast. What a spectacle it will be, I'm sure, and hopefully the rainy weather we have had up in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast of late will disappear so we can show the people of the Commonwealth what a wonderful place the Gold Coast really is. As we see more than 6,600 athletes and officials from over 70 Commonwealth nations and territories making their way there, it will be terrific to see and showcase the Gold Coast in all its glory. We already know that the Gold Coast is one of the most visited destinations in Australia. We will see some 275 events in 18 different sports and seven parasports.

The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games is much more than a sporting event, though. It's about the opportunities and the benefits the games will bring to the Gold Coast and to all Queensland before, during and after the event. While the competition itself will be fierce and the tourism opportunities for our part of the world like no other, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games is also about creating exciting opportunities for young people in my electorate of Forde. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Marsden State High School to present a cheque for the Stronger Communities grant. The funding was going towards some new equipment for their catering and restaurant facilities.

But, while I was speaking to the students, congratulating them on their success and also congratulating Principal Andrew Peach, I was very pleased to learn that 35 students from Marsden State High School will be working in the athletes' village during the Commonwealth Games. I'd like to congratulate the school's food, design and technology department, who have supported these 35 students in gaining paid employment. Their proactive approach to working with Delaware North has led to real-world learning experiences and opportunities for Logan's youth. These will result in an outstanding head start for their future careers in the hospitality industry. These students have shown great skill and a fantastic work ethic to be chosen to take on paid employment in catering and services at the Commonwealth Games, and will now get some fantastic real-world experience to put their skills to the test. It will be an experience that will be remembered for a long time and one that they'll be able to put on their resumes.

The students who have been chosen to work in the athletes village deserve the praise and the media attention they have received, as they did on ABC radio a couple of weeks ago—as does the work and the effort of Marsden State High School and the principal and the teachers there. This is an outstanding school, with an excellent reputation for hardworking teachers and students.

The organisers, staff and volunteers of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games have also worked hard to ensure the games run as smoothly as possible. With thousands of people already arriving on the Gold Coast, the logistics of so many people visiting one city is phenomenal. My electorate of Forde is playing its part in ensuring that spectators, staff and volunteers can get to their events on time with the park and ride at Beenleigh State High School. From there, people will be able to access all Gold Coast venues via train and shuttle buses.

To witness this event in its entirety is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Queenslanders. I'm looking forward to attending a number of events and cheering on our fantastic Australian athletes as they compete for glory on their home soil. It will be an opportunity like no other, and I hope the 2018 Commonwealth Games will leave a positive and lasting impression as the world listens on. Equally, we will see a legacy of wonderful sporting venues and opportunities for the future use of these great facilities once the Commonwealth Games concludes. So I commend everybody involved in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and wish them every success for the coming couple of weeks.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak on the motion moved by the energetic and passionate member for Lindsay.

There are just nine more sleeps until we experience the spectacle and excitement of the opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. This year, I'm happy to say, it's on my home turf of Queensland. In 2006 Australia last hosted a Commonwealth Games in a city—I think it's called Melbourne, Deputy Speaker? And the time before that, 36 years ago, was in Brisbane. The athletes village for the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games was in my electorate of Moreton. The Griffith University Nathan campus was transformed into an operations centre. The student accommodation housed athletes and officials, new-release movies were shown in the university cinema and the grounds were a rolling venue for live entertainment to fill the athletes' downtime. We saw this on the Channel 7 news the other day in a flashback. The Commonwealth Games from 1982 left a lasting legacy on the Nathan campus. This year's Commonwealth Games will be held just down the road at the Gold Coast—again, next door to a Griffith University campus, but this time on the Gold Coast.

Hosting the Commonwealth Games is a massive undertaking. There will be 71 nations and territories competing. Six thousand six hundred athletes and team officials have already started moving into the Gold Coast, ready for the start of the games. Queensland's Minister for the Commonwealth Games, Kate Jones, and Annastacia Palaszczuk, the Premier, have done a wonderful job preparing for Queensland's biggest event—an event that has created thousands of jobs and opportunities for Queenslanders. Obviously, they have been ably assisted by their chairman, the indefatigable and ever-astute Peter Beattie.

More than one million tickets have been sold so far. But there are still some tickets available, including a new release of 40,000 tickets. There are still tickets available for athletics, basketball, squash, hockey, lawn bowls, badminton and weightlifting, and I hear that more tickets for the swimming are about to be released. I'm lucky enough to be able to take my family along to the swimming, to the boxing and to a few other events. Fifteen thousand volunteers and thousands more staff will be deployed to venues on the Gold Coast.

Not only will the event itself be fantastic as a sporting spectacle but it's great for Queensland. I can't wait to take my family to some of the events, and I know that other people from all around the world will be turning up. Up to 30,000 jobs have been created and 18 world-class facilities have been built or upgraded through a $320 million infrastructure program. The games venues were completed some time ago and the temporary overlays to specifically house the Commonwealth Games events are all but finished.

The magnitude of preparing the venues becomes apparent when you hear what was required to be installed before the games could start: 61,000 temporary grandstand seats, 500 tents covering 45,000 square metres, 50 kilometres of temporary fencing and over 38,000 branded elements to ensure that everyone will be well aware that they are celebrating the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

The games will have a global viewing audience of about 1½ billion and will showcase the Gold Coast, Queensland and Australia to the world. Hopefully, some of these viewers will then be tempted to come for a visit themselves, bringing more tourism dollars for businesses. The Commonwealth Games will leave a lasting legacy, as the new sporting infrastructure will make Queensland more attractive as a location for other international sporting meets. More immediately, the games will generate $4 billion and support 16,000 full-time jobs.

As for the events themselves: what can I say? They will be a feast for sporting spectators: world-class athletes competing at world-class venues, and just a short train ride from my home. The games will be using the very best venues and the most beautiful natural resources that the Gold Coast can lay on. The 20-kilometre race in both the walking and road cycling will take place on the beautiful Currumbin beachfront. The marathon and triathlon will be staged at the Southport Broadwater Parklands, a route familiar to all who have done the Gold Coast half-marathon or marathon. Lawn bowls will be held at the Broadbeach Bowls Club, just metres from one of the Gold Coast's famous white sandy beaches—beaches that are easily, I believe, the best in the world. We must not forget the most important part of the Commonwealth Games: the athletes who have trained and are striving for gold. Importantly, this year, for the first time, female athletes will receive the same number of medals as males.

I wish athletes competing all the best, especially those who grew up in Moreton and started their playing careers in some of our wonderful south-side sporting clubs, athletes such as the talented Charlotte Caslick, who's already won a gold medal—at the Olympics—and will be competing in the Australian rugby women's sevens and Tom Lucas who'll be competing in the Australian men's Rugby Sevens squad and who started his Rugby at Sunnybank. I wish you athletes all the best—that is, anyone connected with my electorate and everyone in the Australian team. I will be cheering some of you from the sidelines and others from my lounge room.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The countdown is on for the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, the largest sporting event to be held in Australia in a decade. As we all know, the coalition government has helped make these games a reality, investing $154 million in 2013-14 to fund permanent infrastructure for the games and a further commitment of $2 million for legacy programs to encourage more Aussies to get active. I'm glad to have seen some of the investment dollars being spent in my own electorate of Bonner as we prepare to host the track cycling and shooting events. The construction of two state-of-the-art venues in Bonner has created hundreds of jobs and will provide local families and athletes with awesome opportunities for many years to come.

Earlier this month I visited the Anna Meares Velodrome. I must say, it's a masterpiece, a state-of-the-art construction ready to host the track cycling. The Belmont Shooting Complex has been fitted with brand new electronic targets, in preparation for the games, and will play host to some of the world's finest shooters as they compete in the clay target, full-bore, pistol and small-bore events. I'm excited to be attending some of the shooting events with Senator Bridget McKenzie, the Minister for Sport, as we cheer on our Australian athletes.

As we near the opening ceremony, on 4 April, the spirit of the games is being felt all over the country, including in the electorate of Bonner. Last month I visited 26 local schools, delivering hand-waving flags to the students, encouraging them to get into the spirit of the games. I'm hoping that all the local kids will take their hand-waving flags to events they may be attending and cheer loudly for our great athletes in the green and gold.

Thanks to one local student I, too, will be taking a very special item with me to the games. I held a competition for local primary schoolchildren to design supporters' banners for the chance to win a prize pack. The entries received were amazing and featured everything from the iconic boxing kangaroo to the games mascot, Borobi, playing basketball. It was almost impossible to pick just one winner from all the great entries, but Jessica Kelly of Carina State School was chosen. Congratulations, Jessica, and thanks for the awesome poster. I'll gladly be waving it at the games.

With just over a week to go, I would like to wish all of our Aussie athletes good luck. In Bonner we will be cheering extra loud for local girl Madison Keeney, who is representing Australia in the one-metre and three-metre synchronised diving events. Harnessing the determination of her favourite show, Pokemon, Madison is striving to be the very best, like no-one ever was. I'm urging all of my Bonner locals to keep a keen eye out for Olivia Brown from the Annette Roselli Dance Academy in Tingalpa as well. Olivia will be joining the thousands of other amazing young entertainers performing in the closing ceremony.

It's not just the athletes who deserve a massive thanks. It's going to be a huge job keeping the thousands of visitors, athletes and locals safe during the games, too. Last week I met with the local police in Carindale and Wynnum and was given a snapshot into the work they're doing to prepare for the games. Our local and state police crews, emergency services and all the volunteers are putting in so much of their time and deserve a huge round of applause for the hard work they are putting in prior, during and after the games. It's going to be a big job, but somebody has to do it. I'm glad to say that what I have seen so far is that we've got the best women and men on the job. Let's get ready for the games.

Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In just over a week the 21st Commonwealth Games will commence on the Gold Coast in my home state of Queensland. It will be the fifth time that Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games and, by the look of things, it may very well prove to be the best one yet. It's really exciting to think that more than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 Commonwealth nations will come together for this huge showcase of international sportsmanship.

What is even more exciting is that there are young Australians standing up, wearing the green and gold very proudly, representing our great country on the world stage. There are young Australians like Liam Wilson. Liam is only 21. He's a light welterweight boxer and he comes from Caboolture, a great suburb in our great electorate of Longman. Liam is going to be a world champion, I'm sure. He already holds an outstanding record of 122 wins from 135 fights. For someone so young, he's got the experience, having been boxing since he was just 10 years of age. It's great to see Liam representing our region, our state and our nation. I know he will do well.

Proudly, our region's talent doesn't stop there. Representing our wonderful area in South-East Queensland, we have sisters Taylor and Kaylee McKeown, who will compete in the swimming. Caboolture's own superfish, Lakeisha Patterson, will also be competing.

I don't know what it is—maybe it's something in the water, if we are talking about swimming—but Australia always shows its strength when it comes to competitions. That is why I'm so pleased to see women truly showing their strength at this year's games. For the first time at a Commonwealth Games there will be an equal number of men's and women's medal events being contested, with sports like women's rugby sevens and beach volleyball being contested for the very first time. The motto for this year's games is 'Share the dream'. It's so good to see this motto being lived by. We have some truly incredible female athletes in this country. It's great to see them finally getting the recognition they deserve. It seems women's sport has hit a turning point in the last few years. We've still got a long way to go, but it's great to see them hitting that turning point. This is a really huge step forward. I'm excited to be able to sit and watch in my lounge room as it starts to pay off.

As I said, the 21st Commonwealth Games are going to be huge. It's going to be the largest sporting event to be staged in Australia this decade. In fact, the GC 2018 is going for gold to deliver an inclusive games by hosting up to 300 para-athletes in 38 medal events across seven sports. An event of this magnitude requires a great team to get it all together. I commend the Queensland Palaszczuk government, with a special mention to the Minister for the Commonwealth Games, Kate Jones, for all of their efforts in having a focus on equality and inclusion; efforts towards making South-East Queensland games-ready; and hard work towards supporting 30,000 full-time equivalent jobs required for the games. It's developed infrastructure across Queensland's south-east corner that will benefit Queensland long after the closing ceremony. It will showcase South-East Queensland to the world, to all of the interstate and international visitors and many, many millions of people who watch the games at home, and their hard work will inject around $2 billion into our economy.

I really am looking forward to watching the games come 4 April. I'm looking forward to seeing the young Australians proudly represent our country, standing in front of the flag and wearing the green and gold, and I'm looking forward to seeing the medal tally at the end of the games. Australia, I am sure, will have won gold after gold after gold.

To all the athletes competing, I wish you all of the best of luck. All of Australia will be right behind you. We'll all be barracking for you and we'll be sharing the dream with you. I'm sure you'll do our nation proud. But I can't sign off without acknowledging the wonderful work that all of the volunteers will be doing at the Commonwealth Games. I know there are people from my electorate that are heading down to the Gold Coast and will be volunteering their time to make sure that the Commonwealth Games go smoothly, that they are inclusive, that we do see equality, that we all have a great time and that we do it safely. Thank you.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For those of us who represent regional Australia, the 21st Commonwealth Games is a particularly welcome occasion. This is the first time that the games have been hosted in a regional Australian city. This year, we'll show the world that regional Australia and the regional coast of Queensland, like my electorate of Fisher, in particular, are not simply an unforgettable destination for tourism. We will prove that regional Australia can mount a multibillion-dollar world event; efficiently manage a team of thousands of employees, volunteers, athletes and officials; and provide world-class security for all. As the world's attention turns to regional Australia, we will show them that our regions have fantastic local businesses and innovators, world-class cultural experiences and, most importantly, hundreds of thousands of highly-skilled and highly-motivated people with a great deal to offer any project.

The Sunshine Coast is heavily involved in these Comm Games. Our world-class sports facilities, as well as our relaxing environment and welcoming people, have attracted more than 500 athletes and officials to train during the games' build-up. These include: Australia's rugby sevens and netball teams, England's triathlon group and athletes from the Isle of Man, St Helena and Niue. Wales has chosen to bring its athletes and swimming teams to the Sunshine Coast while Scotland is basing its entire team in our community. The biggest contributions will be made by our people. Twenty-four Sunshine Coast locals are carrying the Queen's Baton, and hundreds of our residents will work as volunteers, including my own daughter Sarah. However, Sunshine Coasters will not just be represented behind the scenes but at the heart of the action in the Australian national team.

The many fantastic swimming clubs in our region are really producing the goods for Australia. The University of the Sunshine Coast Spartans, alone, are sending nine athletes. Taylor and Kaylee McKeown, Jake Packard, Leah Neale and Mikayla Sheridan will be going to the Commonwealth Games while Blake Cochrane, Ellie Cole, Daniel Fox and Logan Powell will be representing Australia in the integrated para-sport program. And you know what, Deputy Speaker? One of the best things about the Commonwealth Games is the integration of the Paralympics with the able-bodied athletes. The Olympic movement can take a huge leaf out of what the Comm Games do, because we've all seen those, what I regard to be, very unfortunate situations where, for the Olympics, we get excited about our able-bodied athletes and then, a week later, the Paralympics start and they just don't get the same attention. When you look at the sheer grit and guts that those Paralympic athletes have taken to get themselves to that level of sport, I think that we, as a sporting-mad community, really drop the ball. I want to congratulate, from the bottom of my heart, the Comm Games team that integrate those two sports together. As the father of a disabled child who dreams of being a Paralympian one day, just to see the integration and how they're all mixed in together and is just a fantastic thing. Those that run the Olympic teams really need to get their act together and follow the lead from the Comm Games.

Kaylee McKeown's performance at the national trials was particularly remarkable. She defeated Australian icon and double-world champion Emily Seebohm to claim her first national title in the 200 backstroke. At 16 she's also the swimming team's youngest member, so congratulations, Kaylee.

The University of the Sunshine Coast will also send two coaches, Chris Mooney and Nathan Doyle; as well as sports scientist Dr Daniella Formosa to be part of the Australian team. Kawana Waters Swimming Club Paralympian finalist Liam Schluter has also been selected and I'm certain will have a great chance for a medal in the S14 200-metre freestyle.

There are plenty of other clubs, like Pelican Waters Swim Club, with Tessa Wallace, who I met the other day and is no relation. Tessa Wallace, good luck. Good luck also to Lucky Patterson. You're all great, and I know that you will do us all proud.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and resumption of debate will remain an order of the day for a later hour this day.