Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It has been galling over the last couple of weeks to listen to a conga line of Labor members pathetically trotting out Daniel Andrews' talking points in defence of his decision to humiliate Victorians and embarrass Australians with the cancellation of the bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. These games were described as 'a games like no other', games that showcase Australia, Victoria, particularly regions of Victoria. By last month, they were reduced to just 'a 12-day sporting event'. They were diminished by comments of Labor leaders all over the country, disgracefully diminished, I must say, which is an insult to every athlete who has aspired to participate in the Commonwealth Games, who has participated at any level, had any level of success, but particularly those who have succeeded. And, of course, it has placed the actual viability of the ongoing likelihood of the Commonwealth Games under question amongst all Commonwealth nations. We saw, off the back of the Victoria decision, the decision coming out of Canada to cancel their bid for 2030. From the leader of the last games in Birmingham came the news that the Birmingham games may have been the last of the Commonwealth Games. It seems as though across all of those Labor luminaries who have sought to diminish the Commonwealth Games by trotting out Daniel Andrews' talking points have contributed to that question mark over the Commonwealth Games.

Western Australia Premier, Roger Cook, called the event ''ruinously expensive' and said that they are not what they used to be. Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria said they were 'all cost and no benefit'. That is not actually true. Birmingham did make a return. The games in Australia in 2018 made a return—highly successful. If one of the most enthusiastic entries in the Commonwealth games, participating in the games and running the games, is saying those things on the international stage then what is the position of the games into the future? It really is, as I said, an insult to all of those athletes who have participated in the games over their careers.

We heard today the news that one of our current champions, Kyle Chalmers, who was part of such a successful swimming event in Japan at the World Championships just recently, has announced that he will retire after the Olympics. Kyle Chalmers lists, amongst his achievements, as having a full set of Olympic gold, Commonwealth Games gold, World Short Course gold, and World Championship gold. The Commonwealth Games are ranked there amongst those other major events—I've done all those things now.

It's also an important part of the overall sporting cycle. The Commonwealth Games, like the Olympics, are held every four years but in the off two years. There are those sports that are not part of the Olympic Games but are in the Commonwealth Games, so those sports rely on the existence of the Commonwealth Games for their high-performance funding. Netball, squash, lawn bowls—their high-performance funding comes through the Australian Sports Commission process that is supported by Australian taxpayers as part of our support for participation in sport and community sport but also for those high-performance athletes that make Australia so proud every time we see them on the international stage.

How good was the result we saw from the swimming world championships just recently. We got 13 gold medals—more than the US—and clearly stamped our dominance on that particular event. Yet, at a state and Commonwealth level, all we hear from the leaders of the Labor states and the Commonwealth is Daniel Andrews's talking points. 'Nothing to see here. We're concentrating on the other 17 events on the green and gold runway,' says the Commonwealth Minister for Sport. Well, who built the green and gold runway? It wasn't the Labor Party; it wasn't this government. Granted, some Labor state governments have participated in that process, particularly Queensland—and I acknowledge Premier Palaszczuk and her team, including Stirling Hinchliffe, the Minister for Sport up there, who did a great job in assisting to prepare the bid for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. But Australian athletes, both able-bodied and para-athletes—bearing in mind that the Commonwealth Games is a combined event for both able-bodied and para-athletes—now don't have that pathway, don't have that opportunity, to participate in an international sporting event on Australian soil in 2026 because of the decision by the Victorian government.

The Victorian government told us, the Commonwealth: 'We've got this. We will fund it all, we will manage it all, we will make it a games like no other.' And then, at the end of the day, they walked away. Labor's contribution to the green and gold runway is now minus one event; prior to the sacking of the 2026 Commonwealth Games we had 18 events, and there are now 17. Those 18 events were procured and supported by the coalition while we were in government—so it is minus one for the Labor Party since they came to government. And they won't even stand up for the event. They won't acknowledge that Australia has an important part to play in this.

I've mentioned the fact that the Commonwealth supports sports that are participating in these events through the Australian Sports Commission and the relationship that Commonwealth Games Australia has with the Australian Sports Commission; it's an extremely important part of it. The Commonwealth also supplies guarantees to support the Commonwealth Games and all these major events. If anyone was in any doubt about how well we do these things and the fact you can get a return, just have a look at what is happening with the Women's World Cup right now. The level of expectation, excitement and passion, particularly for women's sport, could not be demonstrated any more highly than in what we're seeing with the Women's World Cup right now. The Matildas are leading the news nearly every day. It's just brilliant to see, and it is a huge game-changer for women's sport in Australia. Hosting the Commonwealth Games in Australia could have the next cycle of that for a whole range of athletes, both able-bodied and para. It is so good to see para-athletes participating alongside able-bodied athletes at the Commonwealth Games. It is a fantastic innovation that has occurred.

The Commonwealth Games have been cancelled once, during the war, since they began in 1930. Australia—along with the other states, but Australia in particular, as a leader in this space—has a responsibility to actively participate in ensuring that the 2026 games go ahead. We know that there are negotiations going on around compensation, but the Commonwealth has to lean into this and step up and play its part. It can't just say, 'Hands off, it's nothing to do with us,' because that is not true. It needs to step up and play its part in ensuring that a major global sporting event happens, and, if possible, comes to Australia.